EP Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 415.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,427 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 27,743 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Senator Investment Group LP boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% in the 2nd quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $22,534,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,876,000 after buying an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares during the period. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.83.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

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

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,552,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,245,335. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.34 and a 12-month high of $67.50. The company has a market cap of $40.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $58.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.99.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is currently 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.