Capital World Investors Increases Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,101 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned approximately 2.35% of Delta Air Lines worth $918,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covalis Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $944,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $670,994,000 after buying an additional 92,208 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 745,971 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $45,131,000 after acquiring an additional 100,289 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 11,471 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 72.3% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 14,496 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $877,000 after acquiring an additional 6,083 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DAL. Citigroup decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at $2,479,212.12. This trade represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,776 shares of company stock valued at $4,155,951. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.4 %

Delta Air Lines stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $42.00. 8,764,389 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,525,564. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The business's 50-day moving average price is $48.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.13.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.64%.

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.