Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 30,002 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 2,742.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,096 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 30,002 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,499,635.40. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on DAL. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE DAL traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.53. The company had a trading volume of 4,319,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,249,986. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.34 and a 52 week high of $67.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.35.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.33%.

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.