KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 65,701 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,975,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.4% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,193 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 41,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,132 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 7.7% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,439 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.3 %

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $48.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.