Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by Wellington Shields & Co. LLC

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lowered its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,570 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at approximately $796,000. United Community Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.1% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 4,311 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.1% in the first quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 35,193 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 15.8% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 31,798 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 4,337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. HSBC started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price objective for the company. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.30.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.2 %

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.81. The stock had a trading volume of 4,180,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,413,754. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.47. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.60 and a twelve month high of $53.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $30.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.03, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.35.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total value of $253,445.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 112,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,879,618.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Willie Cw Chiang purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $49.50 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $495,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total transaction of $253,445.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 112,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,879,618.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,919 shares of company stock worth $8,834,653 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.