By: Alex Oleinic
Institutional investors are required to file their 13F forms several weeks after the end of each calendar quarter. In these filings, investors, such as hedge funds, disclose the holdings in their equity portfolios. One of the funds that has recently filed its 13F form is Gamco Investors, managed by the legendary Mario Gabelli. Let's look at billionaire Gabelli's five largest holdings.
See the original 13F here, and it's important to remember that individual investors can successfully piggyback hedge funds and other prominent investors if they know where to look (discover the secrets of this strategy).
A top trio
According to the 13F, DIRECTV (DTV) is the most valuable equity holding in the fund's filing, as it was in the prior quarter. However, Gabelli has increased the position to 4,936,239 shares, from a total of 4,825,837 heading into 2013. The value of the stake increased to $279.3 million, versus $242.1 million in the prior quarter. Out of the funds we track, over 40 in addition to Gamco Investors were invested in DIRECTV at the end of 2012. Shares are up 30% year-to-date, and despite these gains, they're still trading at a meager forward P/E of just 10.0x. Warren Buffett's Berkshire is also among DTV investors (see Warren Buffett's top picks).
In American Express (AXP), Mr. Gabelli's hedge fund disclosed a $247.9 million position, up from $211.1 million reported at the end of last year; the size of the fund's holding has increased to 3,674,555 shares versus 3,671,821 shares in the prior quarter. American Express has risen 22.4% YTD and is trading at a forward P/E of 13.3x. According to our database, American Express was in the equity portfolio of more than 50 hedge funds heading into 2013, so we'll continue to watch moving forward.
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