KBC Group NV Increases Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 143.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,611 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 24,781 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 81.6% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 59,608 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 26,788 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,183,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 743.9% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 23,174 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 20,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,373 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen increased 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $71.22.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of DAL stock traded down $0.79 on Monday, hitting $63.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,395,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,376,528. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $53.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.46 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 8.33%.

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.