Caxton Associates LLP Invests $1.09 Million in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP invested $1.09 million in Delta Air Lines by purchasing 25,056 shares in the first quarter, reflecting growing interest from institutional investors in the company.
• Delta Air Lines recently announced an increase in their quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.1875 per share, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.
• Wall Street analysts have shown strong confidence in Delta Air Lines, with multiple firms raising their target prices and ratings, resulting in an average target price of $66.21 and a consensus rating of "Buy".

Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 25,056 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $1,092,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $189,081,000 after acquiring an additional 4,255,262 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 149.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $246,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,577,489 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 347.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $184,909,000 after acquiring an additional 3,286,741 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $144,273,000 after acquiring an additional 3,098,237 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth $122,849,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $66.21.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $60.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.56. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The firm had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Delta Air Lines's 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.

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