Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,114 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL opened at $60.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.09. The company has a market capitalization of $38.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on DAL shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.22.

About Delta Air Lines

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.