AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Buys 13,420 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,503 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,420 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $13,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,634,000 after buying an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded up $0.70 on Wednesday, reaching $65.04. 7,613,276 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,158,825. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.05. The stock has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owns 52,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.22.

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.