Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks to Buy in 2022

2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) offers computer hardware and software solutions around the globe. Out of the 924 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in the fourth quarter of 2021, 262 hedge funds held stakes in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), with a combined worth of $75.66 billion. This shows improving investor confidence in Microsoft over the previous quarter, where 250 hedge funds had bullish bets on the company shares.

On February 8, Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss maintained an ‘Overweight’ rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock, and set a price target of $372, noting that Microsoft shares remained a ‘strong buy at current levels’. As of March 18, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares have jumped 29.29% in the last 12 months, and 1.39% in the last 6 months.

Reporting its fourth quarter earnings on January 25, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) disclosed earnings per share of $2.48, which exceeded estimates by $0.16. $51.73 billion in quarterly revenue was an increase of 20.09% year-over-year, and $938.45 million above analysts’ forecasts.

Here is what Saturna Capital had to say about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Only two companies remain from 2010’s top 10 list: Apple and Microsoft. Going back to 2000, only Microsoft remains. We expect that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will maintain its position as the dominant global provider of personal and business software, while growing its cloud business and potentially being a key provider of augmented and mixed hardware and software.

US Technology companies have been the equity market’s biggest winners in recent years. Because of the Amana Income Fund’s objective of current income, many of these zero- or low-dividend companies do not suit the Fund’s mandate. One that does — Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which returned 46.03% for 2021 — was the Fund’s second biggest contributor to returns during the year. While Technology no doubt underpins much of the current economy and its future potential, Tech stocks have also benefited from low inflation, globalization, and valuations that are near historic highs. With globalization backsliding and inflation worries escalating, we believe companies in other industries with strong financial positions, competitive advantages, strong management, attractive dividend yields, and reasonable valuations can offer investors diversification in the context of equity markets increasingly concentrated in a handful of very large Technology firms.”