Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU) Among Dmitry Balyasny’s Top Stock Picks

Balyasny Asset Management increased its stake in Penn National Gaming Inc. (NYSE:PENN) by 2.77 million shares, ending the quarter with 7.56 million shares valued at nearly $118.35 million. The stock has been a strong performer lately, being up slightly more than 22% year-to-date. Just recently, Penn National Gaming Inc. made a massive acquisition to strengthen its gaming portfolio. The company purchased Tropicana Las Vegas, which is located on the Las Vegas Strip and has nearly 1,500 rooms and a 50,000-square-foot casino. Moreover, the stock has recently been upgraded to “Buy” from “Neutral” by Goldman Sachs, which indicates that the company is making in the right moves to facilitate positive growth. Jacob Doft’s Highline Capital Management bought a new stake of 2.65 million shares in Penn National Gaming Inc. (NYSE:PENN) during the first quarter.

Our list of Dmitry Balyasny’s top holdings concludes with Expedia Inc. (NYSE:EXPE), in which Balyasny reported increasing his position in the company to 1.23 million shares, which are worth $115.92 million. Expedia’s share price has risen by 28% in 2015 and it is expected to move even higher as the company has announced plans to divest its ownership in eLong Inc. Analysts claim that eLong has negatively affected Expedia’s financial results in recent quarters, therefore the divestiture might allow Expedia to build a more successful strategic partnership with a faster-growing player on the Chinese market. Among the massive pool of hedge funds we track, Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro’s PAR Capital Management owns the largest number of shares in Expedia Inc. (NYSE:EXPE), just under 3.66 million.

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