Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Purchased by MUFG Securities EMEA plc

MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 114.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,621 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,206 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 87,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,957,000 after purchasing an additional 8,309 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 53,601 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,661 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 457,796 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,980,000 after purchasing an additional 56,365 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,041,000. Finally, National Pension Service acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,738,836. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $1,074,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $81.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.22. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.28 and a 1-year high of $83.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $53.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 10.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.85.

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.