L & S Advisors Inc Takes $4.53 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

L & S Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 74,942 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $328,398,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,342,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $64,577,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,380,820,000 after purchasing an additional 456,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,865,000 after buying an additional 453,547 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. The trade was a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL opened at $43.80 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.29. 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 $28.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

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.