Banco Santander S.A. Purchases New Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 4,868 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $64,577,000. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after acquiring an additional 749,099 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,865,000 after acquiring an additional 453,547 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of DAL stock opened at $50.28 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.95. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.