AIA Group Ltd Boosts Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 15.6%, owning 104,960 shares valued at approximately $4.58 million after recent purchases.
• Delta Air Lines reported $2.10 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but revenue slightly fell short at $15.51 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, representing a yield of 1.4%, an increase from its previous dividend of $0.15.

AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,960 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 14,188 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $4,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,725 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,190,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,671 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 21,148 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DAL. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna Bancshares increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:DAL traded down $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $59.02. The stock had a trading volume of 4,299,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,829,192. The business's fifty day moving average is $52.25 and its 200 day moving average is $51.39. The company has a market cap of $38.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Delta Air Lines's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 10.87%.

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.