Board of the Pension Protection Fund Takes $1.14 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 20,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth about $386,364,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 149.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $246,487,000 after buying an additional 3,577,489 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 347.4% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $184,909,000 after buying an additional 3,286,741 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,572,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,667,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $47,960,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 23,323 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total transaction of $1,453,722.59. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 81,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,055,523.97. This trade represents a 22.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $858,112.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $968,730. This represents a 46.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE DAL opened at $71.08 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $72.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $62.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.75. The stock has a market cap of $46.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.38.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 23.83%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-two have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.07.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.