Tepper's Appaloosa back into big banks, tech in first quarter

(Reuters) - Famed hedge fund manager David Tepper piled into leading technology, financial and airline stocks in the first quarter.

Tepper's Appaloosa Management L.P. added new positions in Google, EMC, Qualcomm and SanDisk while almost quadrupling holdings of Apple and almost doubling a stake in Microsoft since the end of 2011, according to the firm's first-quarter disclosures statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

Tepper, who has traded in and out of big financial stocks over the past few years, added new stakes in Bank of America and Citigroup in the first quarter and also doubled his holdings of the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF.

The firm, based in Short Hills, New Jersey, also added a new position in Delta Air Lines while adding to stakes in United Continental Holdings and US Airways Group.

Hedge funds and other large investors must disclose their U.S.-listed equity holdings on a quarterly basis after a 45-day delay. Appaloosa may have already changed some of the listed positions since the quarter ended. And the disclosures do not include bonds, foreign-listed securities or short positions.

(Reporting by Aaron Pressman; editing by M.D. Golan)