Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Bought by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,505 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 6.1 %

Shares of DAL opened at $46.60 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.08. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.60.

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.