Lampert's RBS Partners makes bet on financials in Q4

*Lampert ups holdings of Citi shares to 31.3 mln

*Lampert makes new bet on other financial stocks

BOSTON Feb 16 (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Edward Lampert bet big on financial stocks in the fourth quarter when he accumulated new positions in America's biggest bank and raised his holdings in others.

Lampert's ESL Investments' RBS Partners Fund placed new bets on Bank of America (BAC.N) by buying 453,512 shares. He also purchased 4.5 million shares of CIT Group (CIT.N) and 1.5 million shares of Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) during the fourth quarter, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

At the same time, Lampert, long considered one of the world's savviest investors, significantly raised his stake in Citigroup (C.N) to 31.3 million shares from the 18.8 million owned at the end of the third quarter.

At the end of the fourth quarter, the value of the RBS Partners Fund stood at $11.03 billion, up from $9.3 billion at the end of the third quarter. (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)