Morgan Stanley’s Top 5 Stock Picks for 2022

2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 120

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is an information technology company that manufactures and markets smartphones, computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories under the Apple brand. CNBC’s report in December cemented the stock’s position as one of Morgan Stanley’s top stock picks for 2022, with analysts labeling it a smart bet for the year.

As of December 2021, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley, placed by analyst Katy Hubert.

In the fiscal fourth quarter of 2021, the company’s EPS was $1.24, in line with estimates. Its revenue was $83.36 billion. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has also gained 21.5% in the past six months.

According to our research, 120 hedge funds held stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the third quarter, with a total stake value of $146 billion.

Guardian Fund, an investment management firm, mentioned Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here’s what they said:

“Apple’s market value has increased by USD 700 million per day since Tim Cook became CEO in 2011. As a result, Apple is worth more than the entire crypto market, and Microsoft is worth more than all 900 or so unicorns in the world. Both examples illustrate how scalable internet-enabled companies have become as well as how undervalued the rest of the world’s most promising innovation may be.”