Ballentine Partners LLC Makes New $250,000 Investment in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,213 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $842,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,053 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,981,124 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $602,691,000 after purchasing an additional 79,818 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,839,122 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $401,048,000 after purchasing an additional 865,746 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 220.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,600,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $346,008,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,374,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $336,908,000 after purchasing an additional 826,232 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $48.16 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.37. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.60 and a 1 year high of $53.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.05.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 5.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was 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 owns 217,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,672,495.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was 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 owns 217,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,672,495.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total value of $253,445.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 112,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,879,618.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 178,919 shares of company stock worth $8,834,653. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC initiated coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.85.

About Delta Air Lines

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.