Billionaires Julian Robertson and Stephen Mandel Like Google Inc (GOOG)

$38 billion market cap pipeline company Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI) was another common pick between Robertson and Mandel. The stock’s forward P/E is 26, so again these investors are dependent on future growth to justify the current stock price, but Kinder Morgan does have the potential to benefit from growth in domestic oil and gas infrastructure. They are joined in Kinder Morgan by billionaire Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, which had 5 million shares in its portfolio according to its own 13F (research more stocks Omega owns).

Both investors sold a small portion of their stake in Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) but Robertson and Mandel still each had the communications equipment company as one of their twenty largest holdings by market value. Qualcomm joined Google on our list of the ten most popular tech stocks among hedge funds for the fourth quarter (see the full top ten list). The stock carries trailing and forward P/E multiples of 18 and 14, respectively, so growth expectations are more modest here and as a result the valuation is cheaper than at some of these other companies.

Mandel and Robertson were both buying Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) between October and December. Verisign provides Internet registry services; its stock price dived late last year after regulators limited its price increases, but a 29% rally has carried it close to all time highs. Revenue and earnings grew at double-digit rates in the fourth quarter of 2012 versus a year earlier, though the trailing P/E of 24 already incorporates considerable future growth. Warren Buffett initiated a position in Verisign last quarter, as Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F disclosed ownership of 3.7 million shares (find more stocks Buffett was buying).

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.