Aquatic Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 58,551 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $3,542,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,380,820,000 after acquiring an additional 456,465 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,800,754,000 after buying an additional 1,922,932 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $968,234,000 after buying an additional 410,648 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $918,419,000 after buying an additional 46,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $670,994,000 after acquiring an additional 92,208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. UBS Group cut Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $46.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,776 shares of company stock worth $4,155,951 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded up $2.72 on Friday, hitting $44.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,930,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,227,942. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $28.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.74.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is presently 10.64%.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

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.