Moran Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 83,518 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 83,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV boosted its stake 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 worth $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $2,036,000. New Millennium Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 314.0% in the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 36,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after buying an additional 27,654 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,452,000 after buying an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth about $189,296,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $50.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.43, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % 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 valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased 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 increased 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. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.