Kestra Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 1,204 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,204 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $59.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.27 and a 200-day moving average of $56.31. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $38.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 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.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

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.