Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 171,249 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 5,985 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $6,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,618,627 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $105,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550,770 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 27.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,813,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $178,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,957 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 8.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,839,122 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $401,048,000 after purchasing an additional 865,746 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 541.2% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 998,156 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,932,000 after purchasing an additional 842,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 4,434,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $178,400,000 after purchasing an additional 773,636 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $52.27. 324,679 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,625,362. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.09. The stock has a market cap of $33.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $53.00.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 5.14%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total value of $1,176,206.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at $6,911,295.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total value of $1,176,206.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $49.50 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 174,073 shares of company stock worth $8,581,207 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on DAL. UBS Group began coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $58.29.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo.