Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Has $436,000 Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 312.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 5,455 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after buying an additional 416,338 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $189,296,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,544,750 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $214,457,000 after acquiring an additional 274,067 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.6 %

DAL stock opened at $60.09 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $64.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.