5 Blue Chip Stocks Hedge Funds Love

4. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 160

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is the tech giant behind Google and its affiliated platforms including Gmail, Google App Store and YouTube, among others. The number of bullish hedge fund bets on Alphabet shares increased in the first quarter of 2022, where 160 hedge funds were stakeholders in the company as compared to 158 hedge funds a quarter earlier.

On June 1, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak reiterated an ‘Overweight’ rating on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares, and slashed the price target to $3,000 from $3,270. Owing to the “rising macro and micro uncertainty,” the analyst lowered estimates across the internet space to reflect a slowdown in advertising and e-commerce. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares have suffered lately as the market abandons tech stocks, losing 19.15% in value in the year to date as of June 8.

Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) revenue for the first quarter was recorded at $68 billion, signaling a jump of 22.95% from the year-ago quarter, and outperforming estimates by $124.6 million. EPS was reported below Street estimates by $0.93, coming in at $24.62.

Baron Funds, an investment firm, mentioned many stocks in its Q1 2022 investor letter, and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was one of them. The fund said:

“We have modestly reduced the size of our position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (from 6.5% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 to 5.3% as of the end of the first quarter of 2022), after the stock rallied 64% in 2021 and continued outperforming during the first quarter, declining just 3%.”