25,424 Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Bought by ABC Arbitrage SA

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

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 220,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,340,000 after purchasing an additional 13,420 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 583,734 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,316,000 after purchasing an additional 19,463 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 40,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 8,264 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 119,834 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,070 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL opened at $65.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.