LPL Financial LLC Buys 86,903 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 584,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,903 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $35,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on DAL. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $43.80 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $28.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.18.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Delta Air Lines 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.