L & S Advisors Inc Takes $4.53 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

L & S Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 74,942 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $43.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.29.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.