Is Expedia Inc (EXPE) Worthy of Your Portfolio?

Due to the fact that Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) has faced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds that slashed their entire stakes in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners sold off the biggest position of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, valued at about $220 million in stock. Philippe Laffont’s fund, Coatue Management, also dropped its shares, about $216.3 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE). These stocks are Liberty Interactive Corp (NASDAQ:QVCA), Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE), Smith & Nephew plc (ADR) (NYSE:SNN), and Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE:CXO). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble EXPE’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 38 investors bullish on each of them and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.11 billion, which is significantly lower than the $4.77 billion in EXPE’s case. Liberty Interactive Corp (NASDAQ:QVCA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Smith & Nephew plc (ADR) (NYSE:SNN) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard Liberty Interactive Corp (NASDAQ:QVCA) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.