Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 172,039 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $10,408,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 13,802 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 43,000 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded up $2.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.83. 8,739,484 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,491,616. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $64.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.57. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The company has a market capitalization of $36.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.22.

About Delta Air Lines

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.