640,079 Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Acquired by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 640,079 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,725,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $328,398,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $152,342,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 405.3% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,054,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $184,784,000 after buying an additional 2,449,874 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $602,327,000 after buying an additional 2,254,560 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,800,754,000 after buying an additional 1,922,932 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DAL shares. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.08.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $51.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.17. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 10.64%.

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.