Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,264 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC grew 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. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,551,000 after acquiring an additional 453,926 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,865,000 after acquiring an additional 453,547 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock opened at $65.41 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $42.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.62.

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 analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.22.

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.