SVB Wealth LLC Purchases New Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 34,518 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $2,088,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during 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 period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 419.5% during the third 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 grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,865,000 after purchasing an additional 453,547 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL traded up $2.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.83. 8,739,484 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,491,617. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

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.