Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 22,309 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 51.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,461 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,309 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $3,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,555 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.06.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $41.95. 8,370,712 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,234,356. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The company has a market cap of $27.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.03.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of Delta Air Lines 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,776 shares of company stock valued at $4,155,951 over the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Delta Air Lines

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.