Horizon Advisory Services Inc. Purchases New Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Horizon Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000. Delta Air Lines makes up about 0.2% of Horizon Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,551,000 after purchasing an additional 453,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,865,000 after purchasing an additional 453,547 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $1,241,367.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,479,212.12. The trade was a 33.36 % 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 worth $11,116,463 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $61.51 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.73. The company has a market cap of $39.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

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.