Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,455 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,813,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $178,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,957 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,839,122 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $401,048,000 after acquiring an additional 865,746 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 541.2% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 998,156 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,932,000 after buying an additional 842,487 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 4,434,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $178,400,000 after buying an additional 773,636 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 17.1% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,091,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $188,514,000 after buying an additional 743,882 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total transaction of $4,905,000.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 217,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,672,495.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,913 shares of company stock worth $8,897,335 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $58.29.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $47.94 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.01. The company has a market cap of $30.94 billion, a PE ratio of 6.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.43. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.60 and a 52-week high of $49.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.41.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.14%.

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.