National Pension Service Buys 11,279 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

National Pension Service boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 20.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,813 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 11,279 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $6,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8,578.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,516,676 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,734,272,000 after acquiring an additional 18,303,318 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth approximately $1,182,646,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 137.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,811,787 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $958,538,000 after purchasing an additional 7,994,004 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $471,532,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1,579.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,673,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $185,534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514,193 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $112.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $112.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.84.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.0%

DAL opened at $79.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $95.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.20.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The transportation company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $17.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.43 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. Analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.26%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward Bastian sold 206,510 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.80, for a total value of $19,164,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,363,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,527,974.40. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Sear sold 40,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.55, for a total value of $3,785,033.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 104,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,766,994.20. This trade represents a 27.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 356,726 shares of company stock worth $33,081,037. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines, Inc is a major U.S. airline that provides scheduled passenger air transportation throughout the United States and to destinations across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The company also offers air cargo services and operates a loyalty program, SkyMiles, along with related travel and customer services.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Delta operates a network of domestic and international routes through hubs and focus cities that include Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, New York, Salt Lake City and Seattle.