GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New $130,000 Investment in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 49,941 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after buying an additional 20,845 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,618,627 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $105,347,000 after buying an additional 1,550,770 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 578,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,282,000 after purchasing an additional 108,060 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $58.29.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $49.92 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.21. The firm has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.43. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.60 and a 12-month high of $50.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,672,495.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of Delta Air Lines 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 completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,672,495.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,913 shares of company stock worth $8,897,335. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.