Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 479,299 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,640 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Delta Air Lines worth $28,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,479,212.12. This trade represents a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value 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 three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 4.0 %

NYSE:DAL traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.78. 11,349,418 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,764,039. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $61.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.14. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a market cap of $30.89 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.