Forest Avenue Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 799,485 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Forest Avenue Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 799,485 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $48,369,000. Delta Air Lines makes up approximately 4.4% of Forest Avenue Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP owned about 0.12% of Delta Air Lines at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.0% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,541 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $992,000 after buying an additional 2,401 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 71,389 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,626,000 after acquiring an additional 11,094 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,515 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 43,929 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,231,000 after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at $301,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Dbs Bank lowered Delta Air Lines from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.06.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DAL traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.81. 8,109,884 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,285,699. The business's 50-day moving average price is $50.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98. 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 has a market capitalization of $26.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.66, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.64%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction 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 $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the business'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 value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 154,486 shares of company stock worth $10,561,895 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.