KBC Group NV Buys 15,766 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 72,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,766 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $4,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DAL. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 26,392 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,597,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,821 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC now owns 28,481 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,150 shares of company stock worth $8,735,936. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on DAL shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Fourteen 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $68.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $63.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.70. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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.