Norges Bank Takes Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,252,605 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,931,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 4,721 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 6,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 794 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. HSBC decreased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $79.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $71.58 and its 200-day moving average is $68.72. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.28 and a 1 year high of $83.83.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 9,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $737,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 138,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,552,904. This represents a 6.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total value of $4,723,067.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,497.35. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.