Westpac Banking Corp Acquires 9,189 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 709.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,485 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,189 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 90.6% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 444 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,983.3% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. SWAN Capital LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,016.0% in the third quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $78.95 on Thursday. 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.49. The company has a market cap of $51.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.30.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly 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. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total transaction of $2,036,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at $7,738,836. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total transaction of $4,723,067.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at $4,727,497.35. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock worth $10,833,855 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines 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.