Comerica Bank Has $5.11 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Comerica Bank has reduced its holdings in Delta Air Lines, now owning 117,264 shares valued at $5.11 million after a 4.0% decrease in its position during Q1.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Delta Air Lines, with Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosting its holdings by 347.4%, now owning over 4.23 million shares.
• Delta Air Lines recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.1875, representing an annualized dividend of $0.75 and a yield of 1.2%.

Comerica Bank trimmed its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,264 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 4,828 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 44.2% during 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 stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 104.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 991 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares in the company, valued at $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,376,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,480,089. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $55.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The company had revenue of $15.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 10.87%.

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.