Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires 256 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after acquiring an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $189,296,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,497,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,637,000 after purchasing an additional 10,332 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DAL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 124,863 shares of company stock valued at $8,649,150. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock opened at $66.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.93. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

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.