Vanguard Group Inc. Has $4.38 Billion Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 456,465 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Delta Air Lines worth $4,380,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 8.4% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 56,926 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 4,413 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $379,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 313,226 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,909,000 after purchasing an additional 92,273 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,193 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after buying an additional 3,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 22,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after buying an additional 2,958 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $1,241,367.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $48.89 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.29. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week 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 market capitalization of $31.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm 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 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

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.