Shares of Dell (NYSE:DELL) stock are up by about 30% after the company reported its fourth-quarter earnings and announced a dividend increase of 20% to $1.78 per share. Much of the gains are attributed to excitement over the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) services.
During the quarter, Dell generated $22.32 billion in revenue, which declined by 11% year-over-year (YOY) but still beat the analyst estimate of $22.16 billion. Adjusted EPS was $2.20, which beat the analyst estimate of $1.73 as well.
$9.3 billion of the revenue was attributed to Dell’s Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG), which declined by 6% YOY. Within ISG, servers and networking revenue was $4.9 billion “with sequential growth driven primarily by AI-optimized servers.” Another $11.7 billion of revenue was attributed to Client Solutions Group (CSG), which fell by 12% YOY. Dell COO and vice chairman Jeff Clarke had this to say on the firm’s AI plans:
“We’ve just started to touch the AI opportunities ahead of us, and we believe Dell is uniquely positioned with our broad portfolio to help customers build GenAI solutions that meet performance, cost and security requirements,”
5 Investors Betting Big on DELL Stock
Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. During Q4, 796 13F filers disclosed a stake in Dell, an increase of 6.56%, or 49 filers, from the prior quarter. In total, these filers own 191.54 million shares, up by 3% from 185.88 million shares. These factors point to bullish institutional sentiment.
Hedge funds, which are included in 13F metrics, appeared to have a neutral sentiment. During Q4, hedge fund holders of Dell declined by six to 173. Total 13F shares effectively remained unchanged at 70.11 million shares compared to 70.17 million shares.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Dell’s largest shareholders:
- Michael Dell, Founder, CEO and Chairman: 345.07 million shares. Dell’s stake is accurate as of Dec. 31.
- Silver Lake Group: 86.20 million shares. Silver Lake’s stake is accurate as of Jan. 16.
- Susan Dell: 37.59 million shares. Dell’s stake is accurate as of Dec. 31.
- Vanguard: 17.59 million shares. Vanguard acquired 647,192 shares during Q4.
- BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 12.31 million shares. BlackRock sold 779,265 shares during Q4.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
