Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Acquired by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,024 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,758 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $471,330,000 after buying an additional 1,105,674 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at $281,206,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,497,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $177,637,000 after purchasing an additional 10,332 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,344,414 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $169,863,000 after purchasing an additional 14,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 28.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,595,203 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $81,020,000 after purchasing an additional 358,082 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE DAL opened at $63.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.46 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.37. The stock has a market cap of $41.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Barclays increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total transaction of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,635.40. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.