Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,289 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $3,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 742,773 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,725,000 after acquiring an additional 19,124 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $571,000. Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $382,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 659 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 85,891 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.5 %

DAL stock opened at $48.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.39. 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 $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $12.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.37.

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.