5 Deal-Ready Stocks Loved by Hedge Funds

Updated to reflect additional information on AT&T and spectrum in the page dedicated to Dish Network..

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Every quarter hedge funds and large investors file their holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing value picks, cyclical bets, growth opportunities and activist pushes.

Reading between the lines, the holdings of some of the mightiest investors in the U.S. also gives insight into 2012 expectations for the still lukewarm M&A market, which is expected by many to pop at some point this year.

There are several surprise bets that poker-faced hedge funders made in the fourth quarter. For instance, some fund managers flocked to struggling Yahoo!, while struggling bank bull John Paulson dumped his holdings in America's largest banks and some managers unveiled big recovery bets.

But after reading the "tea-leaves" on what holdings say about companies, sectors and the economy, it's also worth looking over portfolio changes for companies that may cut deals in the coming year. After all, when major deals like Kinder Morgan's(KMI) acquisition of El Paso(EP) , Google's(GOOG) purchase of Motorola Mobility(MMI) and Duke Energy's(DUK) deal for Progress Energy(PGN) are announced, it's not much of a surprise to see the likes of Carl Icahn, Jana Partners and AQR Capital Management among the large shareholders benefitting from a premium-priced takeover.