We recently published a list of Top 10 Stocks to Buy According to Durable Capital Partners. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) stands against other top stocks to buy according to Durable Capital Partners.
Durable Capital Partners is a Maryland-based hedge fund management firm founded in the second quarter of 2019 by Henry Ellenbogen. The firm primarily follows a long-term equity investment strategy, with a focus on early-stage and durable growth in small- and mid-cap equities across public markets. Ellenbogen, who serves as the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, leads the firm’s investment approach.
Ellenbogen established Durable Capital Partners in 2019 and currently holds the roles of Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer. Before founding Durable, he spent nearly two decades at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., where he served as Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for U.S. Equity Growth. During his tenure, he led the U.S. Small-Cap Growth Equity Strategy and managed the New Horizons Fund. Additionally, he was an active member of the U.S. Equity Steering Committee and the Corporate Governance Committee for U.S. Equity.
Between 2001 and 2019, Ellenbogen spearheaded private market investments in several high-profile companies. His leadership at the New Horizons Fund contributed to its recognition with multiple industry awards. Notably, the fund received Investor’s Business Daily’s Best Mutual Funds Award in 2018 across categories such as U.S. Diversified Equity Funds, Growth Funds, and Small-Cap Funds. Additionally, it earned the Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Award for Best Small-Cap Growth Fund over a ten-year period (2017), a five-year period (2016), and both five- and ten-year periods (2013). Prior to his investment career, Ellenbogen served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Peter Deutsch and gained experience as a Summer Associate at Goldman Sachs.
Academically, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in History and Science. He later earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was recognized as a Baker Scholar. Additionally, he has taught as an adjunct professor at New York University’s Graduate School of Politics. Ellenbogen is a member of the Barron’s Roundtable and contributes to the Investment Committee of the Smithsonian Institution. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for The Posse Foundation.
According to its most recent 13F filing for the fourth quarter of 2024, Durable Capital Partners reported $12.26 billion in managed 13F securities, with its top 10 holdings accounting for 47.59% of its portfolio.
Our Methodology
The stocks discussed below were picked from Durable Capital Partners’s Q4 2024 13F filings. They are compiled in the ascending order of the hedge fund’s stake in them as of December 31, 2024. To assist readers with more context, we have included the hedge fund sentiment regarding each stock using data from over 1,000 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A fast-paced travel agent making a bookings for a family vacation package.
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders as of Q4: 99
Durable Capital Partners’ Equity Stake: $468.50 Million
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is a leading American travel technology company. On February 20, 2025, the company reported robust financial results for the final quarter of 2024, with revenue reaching $5.47 billion—an increase of 14% from the prior year. This figure exceeded analyst projections of $5.19 billion, reflecting Booking’s strong market position. The company also delivered adjusted earnings of $41.55 per share, significantly outperforming the consensus estimate of $36.70. Gross bookings for the quarter totaled $37.2 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $34.5 billion. Both revenue and earnings per share displayed notable year-over-year growth, showcasing the company’s continued strength in the travel and hospitality industry.
Alongside its earnings announcement, Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) unveiled a newly authorized $20 billion stock repurchase program, supplementing the $7.7 billion remaining from its previous buyback initiative as of year-end 2024. Looking ahead, the company anticipates revenue growth between 2% and 4% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025, with gross bookings projected to rise by 5% to 7%. For the full year, Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) expects both revenue and gross bookings to increase at a mid-single-digit percentage rate, while adjusted earnings per share are projected to grow in the low double digits. Following this strong financial performance, analysts at Jefferies and JPMorgan raised their price targets for Booking Holdings to $5,400 and $5,750, respectively, citing high travel demand and the company’s expanding investments in social media marketing.
Additionally, the company’s Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $9.60 per share, marking a 10% increase from the previous dividend of $8.75. The dividend is set to be distributed on March 31, 2025, to stockholders recorded as of March 7, 2025. Institutional interest in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has also grown, with Insider Monkey’s data showing that 99 hedge funds held stakes in the company at the end of Q4, representing a combined value of nearly $10.14 billion—up from 93 funds in the previous quarter. The increasing hedge fund investments reflect strong institutional confidence, reinforcing Booking Holdings’ position as a top stock to buy according to Durable Capital Partners.
Overall, BKNG ranks 8th on our list of top stocks to buy according to Durable Capital Partners. While we acknowledge the potential for BKNG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BKNG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
