Generate Investment Management Ltd Buys 67,802 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Generate Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 272,281 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,802 shares during the quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $16,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after buying an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 24,249 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.22.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 106,893 shares of company stock valued at $7,407,783 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $67.86 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.60. The stock has a market cap of $43.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 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.