Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Position Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 456,465 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.22% of Delta Air Lines worth $4,380,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.29.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 4.5 %

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $48.89 on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $31.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.29.

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 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 firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 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.