Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Purchased by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 66.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,095 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,241 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,817,783 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $330,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,744 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,661,911 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $434,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447,058 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16,044.7% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,263,320 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,495 shares during the period. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 47.0% in the third quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 2,284,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $129,632,000 after purchasing an additional 730,368 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 24.6% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,791,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $158,422,000 after purchasing an additional 550,480 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 20,621 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.75, for a total value of $1,500,177.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,025 shares in the company, valued at $8,731,818.75. The trade was a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 100,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.26, for a total transaction of $7,026,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,363,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,795,856.48. This represents a 6.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 204,925 shares of company stock worth $14,323,395 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $76.16 on Monday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.28 and a 52-week high of $77.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.23 and a 200 day moving average of $67.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $50.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Seaport Research Partners raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.76.

About Delta Air Lines

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.