Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Contrarian Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. Federal Reserve, “Fed”, reduced interest rates by 0.5% on September 18, offering much-needed relief to investors. This key decision aimed to stabilize the markets following a turbulent August filled with worries about declining job market indicators. Against this backdrop, the fund returned 6.85% (net) during the quarter underperforming the 8.75% returns of the Russell 2500 Index and 9.63% returns of the secondary benchmark the Russell 2500 Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Meridian Contrarian Fund highlighted stocks like CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) provides expertise and technology to enterprise and mission customers in support of national security in the intelligence, defense, and federal civilian sectors. The one-month return of CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) was -18.17%, and its shares gained 45.20% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 27, 2024, CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) stock closed at $460.29 per share with a market capitalization of $10.31 billion.
Meridian Contrarian Fund stated the following regarding CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) is an IT consultant and provider of mission-critical technology to the U.S. Government and its agencies, which account for nearly 95% of its sales. CACI plays a vital role in modernizing IT infrastructure, systems, and other essential defense needs for the U.S. We have held CACI for over 10 years as the company has consistently grown into a larger supplier to the U.S., and increasingly, to our allies. The company’s stable growth and role as an essential provider of U.S. defense infrastructure were recognized by the market, delivering a solid return for shareholders in the quarter. We maintained our position throughout the period and, as of quarter-end, CACI was the Fund’s largest holding.”
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CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 38 hedge fund portfolios held CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) at the end of the third quarter which was 37 in the previous quarter. CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) reported revenue growth of 11%, EBITDA margin of 10.5% and solid free cash flow in the quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) and shared Upslope Capital Management’s views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.