ABC Arbitrage SA Takes Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 25,424 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,538,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after buying an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after buying an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after buying an additional 24,249 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $65.41 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.38. The company has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DAL. Susquehanna raised their target price 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.22.

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.