Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Purchased by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,197 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,555 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 4,860 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,190,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $55.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.49.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,973 shares of company stock valued at $5,541,946 in the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.