Claro Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 172.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,408 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total transaction of $3,830,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $64.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $41.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.70. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.28 and a 1-year high of $66.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.22.

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.