Sanders Capital LLC Acquires 1,922,932 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,922,932 shares during the quarter. Delta Air Lines makes up about 2.6% of Sanders Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sanders Capital LLC owned about 4.61% of Delta Air Lines worth $1,800,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on DAL. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Delta Air Lines from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.06.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.81. 8,109,884 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,285,699. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The stock's fifty day moving average is $50.20 and its 200-day moving average is $57.35. The stock has a market cap 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 154,486 shares of company stock valued at $10,561,895 over the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.