One way to spot winning stocks is to pay close attention to what some of the world’s most successful investors are buying and selling.

Of course, you still have to do your own research to make sure a particular investment is a good fit for your portfolio. And keep in mind that all investors—including the Warren Buffetts of the world—buy and sell for a wide range of reasons. But even so, periodically looking in on their latest moves can make you money.

At Investing Daily, we keep tabs on some of the world’s leading investors through their quarterly 13F filings. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) requires all institutional money managers with assets of at least $100 million to report their holdings via Schedule 13F within 45 days of the end of each quarter. (Something else to keep in mind: the time lag between the end of the quarter and the deadline for their release can mean these filings are out of date by the time investors get their hands on them.)

Once these quarterly filings are out, we post some of the gurus’ most notable moves on Investing Daily and in our daily Stocks to Watch emails, so you can quickly and easily review them.

Klarman Follows Buffett Into DirecTV

For example, in our update on superstar investors’ first quarter 13F filings, we reported that well-known value investor Seth Klarman had taken a new position in satellite operator DirecTV (NYSE: DTV). Klarman founded the Baupost Group in 1982. In its first year, Baupost’s assets were $30 million, and by 2012, that total had soared to $29.4 billion. Baupost is now the world’s 11^th largest hedge fund, according to Insider Monkey.

To be fair, Klarman’s new DirecTV position is tiny, at just 0.38% of Baupost’s overall portfolio, or 207,300 shares, for which he paid between $47 and $57 each. A key factor we’ll be keeping an eye on is whether he adds to his interest in the second quarter.

But Klarman isn’t the only Wall Street titan who’s attracted to the stock. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) holds 37.3 million DirecTV shares with a market value of about $2.4 billion. DirecTV is Berkshire’s eighth-largest holding by number of shares and seventh-largest by value.

The company operates through two main segments: DirecTV U.S., which supplied 78% of DirecTV’s 2012 revenue, provides satellite TV services to 20.11 million subscribers across the country.

DirecTV Latin America owns about 93% of Sky Brasil, 41% of Sky Mexico and 100% of PanAmericana, which covers most of the region’s other nations. In 2012, this business accounted for 21% of DirecTV’s revenue (sports networks, eliminations and other operations supplied the remaining 1.0%).

In the first quarter, DirecTV’s revenue rose 7.6%, to $7.58 billion from $7.05 billion a year ago. Net income fell to $690 million from $731 million, as profits were weighed down by a $166 million pre-tax charge related to DirecTV’s assets in Venezuela after that country’s currency was devalued in February. 

Earnings per share rose 12.1%, to $1.20 from $1.07, as the company’s share count dropped 15% from a year earlier due to its ongoing buybacks, including $1.38 billion of stock in the latest quarter. Excluding unusual items, earnings rose to $1.43 a share. That was far ahead of the consensus forecast of $1.08. Revenue also beat the Street’s estimate of $7.53 billion.

A Good Way to Play Latin American Growth

In the U.S., the company’s growth strategy is focused on more affluent customers, who the company sees as more likely to buy additional services. DirecTV added 21,000 net subscribers in the U.S. in the latest quarter, down from 81,000 a year ago. However, its average monthly revenue per subscriber (ARPU) rose to $96.05 from $91.99, helping increase this business’s revenue by 5.3%, to $5.8 billion. Operating profits gained 7.9%, to $1.12 billion.

DirecTV’s Latin American strategy is more focused on boosting its subscriber count: the Latin American division added 583,000 net subscribers in the latest quarter. That was down slightly from 593,000 a year ago, but the division’s revenue still surged 16.4%, to $1.73 billion. Adjusted operating profits rose 13.7%, to $283 million. Excluding the impact of exchange rates, ARPU rose 1.5%.

The Latin American business continues to grow strongly: according to Trefis.com, the company had around 3.3 million Latin American subscribers in 2007. Today, it has about 10.9 million, or nearly triple that amount. And if you include DirecTV’s minority stake in Sky Mexico, that total rises to 16.32 million.

The company looks set to continue its strong growth in the region: according to an April 18 report from Digital TV Research, digital TV demand is forecast to pick up significantly in Latin America, with services being present in 45% of homes by the end of 2013, up from less than a third in 2012. By 2018, 84% of Latin American homes will have pay TV. In all, Latin American pay TV revenues are expected to hit $26.7 billion by 2018.

Satellite growth will account for a large portion of that increase. Digital TV Research sees the number of Latin American homes with a satellite dish surging from 25.2 million in 2012 to 44.06 million in 2018.

About to Download Hulu? 

In addition, DirecTV is reportedly in talks to buy video-streaming service Hulu for around $1 billion. Hulu is a joint venture between News Corp. (NasdaqGS: NWSA), Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) and Comcast Corp.’s (NasdaqGS: CMCSA) NBCUniversal division.

Hulu has reportedly attracted a number of bids, including one from Yahoo (NasdaqGS: YHOO)

The move would help DirecTV compete as more viewers watch TV online. Buying Hulu would also help diversify DirecTV’s operations.

Hulu’s subscription-based Hulu Plus service accounted for just 10% of U.S. shows streamed in the first quarter, well behind market leader Netflix (NasdaqGS: NFLX), with 89%. However, its share was up from 7% a year earlier. Moreover, Hulu reported that its users watched over 1 billion streamed videos in the quarter, a new record. It also said that it now has over 4.0 million Hulu Plus subscribers, who pay a $7.99 a month—the same rate as Netflix—for the service. That’s more than double the year-ago total of 2.0 million.

An acquisition would allow DirecTV to move into creating its own shows: Hulu is following Netflix’s lead and producing its own programs, including nine set for release this summer. Netflix recently released its political drama, House of Cards, as well as a new season of the cult hit Arrested Development, which was cancelled in 2006.