Panagora Asset Management Inc. Purchases 428,450 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,804,005 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 428,450 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $125,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 90.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 444 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,983.3% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.1%

DAL opened at $83.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.28 and a fifty-two week high of $83.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $73.02 and its 200 day moving average is $69.60.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Seaport Research Partners increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total value of $395,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 133,854 shares in the company, valued at $10,574,466. This represents a 3.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total transaction of $2,036,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at $7,738,836. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock worth $10,833,855 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.