Natixis Advisors LLC Has $10.68 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 176,560 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,504 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $10,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 534.8% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 34,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 28,880 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 14,505 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 118,580 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,173,000 after purchasing an additional 21,291 shares in the last quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 479,299 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,998,000 after buying an additional 5,640 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $47.78 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $61.50 and a 200-day moving average of $58.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, 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.

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

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

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.