HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 31,419 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 12.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 291,598 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,419 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $16,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,493 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,871 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,844 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,225 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 5.2%

DAL opened at $67.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.37. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $76.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 13th. The transportation company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.02. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.96% and a net margin of 7.90%.The company had revenue of $14.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Delta Air Lines has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.900 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.500-7.500 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Erik Storey Snell sold 39,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $2,799,608.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,530,087.50. This represents a 52.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 62,528 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total transaction of $4,388,215.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,469,499.02. This represents a 74.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 520,550 shares of company stock valued at $37,101,667 in the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Argus set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.47.

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.