First Eagle Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,505 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 68.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $517,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,965 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after buying an additional 4,447 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 6.1 %

NYSE DAL opened at $46.60 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $62.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.08. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $30.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, 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 analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at $2,479,212.12. This trade represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DAL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.60.

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.