UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,564 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines 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 directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 5.1 %

NYSE:DAL opened at $43.80 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $28.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.29.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

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.