Gradient Investments LLC Takes Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,903 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,551,000 after purchasing an additional 453,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.5 %

DAL stock opened at $67.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $43.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.22.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. This represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 149,429 shares of company stock worth $9,924,819 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.