10,960 Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Bought by Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.

Key Points

• Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC purchased 10,960 shares of Delta Air Lines, valued at approximately $478,000, indicating increased institutional interest in the stock.
• Several equities analysts have raised their target prices for Delta Air Lines, with estimates now ranging from $63.00 to $70.00, reflecting optimism about the company's performance.
• Delta Air Lines announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.1875 per share, scheduled for payment on August 21st, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 10,960 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 414.4% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:DAL traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.67. The company had a trading volume of 6,634,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,852,598. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The business's fifty day moving average is $51.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $35.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.56.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is 10.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Susquehanna set a $65.00 target price on Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines 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.