Ieq Capital LLC Grows Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 643,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 110,362 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $44,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DAL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the first quarter worth about $178,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter worth about $555,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 102.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,825 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 357,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.85.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $1,074,150.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 54,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,893,364.09. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total value of $2,036,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at $7,738,836. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of DAL opened at $83.11 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.02 and its 200 day moving average is $69.54. The company has a market capitalization of $54.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.30. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.28 and a 12-month high of $83.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.93%.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.