Freedom Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,215 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 784 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,924,506 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,179,508,000 after buying an additional 514,264 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,242,852 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $315,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,464 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,915,545 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $257,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370,795 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,182,789 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $313,559,000 after purchasing an additional 447,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 4,746,535 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $287,165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,498 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna Bancshares upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. HSBC increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,456,379.80. This represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $61.25 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.85. The firm has a market cap of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

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.