Corient Private Wealth LLC Raises Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its Delta Air Lines stake by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 189,365 shares valued at about $13.1 million. Several other institutional investors also boosted holdings, and institutions now own nearly 70% of the stock.
• Analysts have turned increasingly bullish on Delta, with Bank of America, Argus, UBS, and Morgan Stanley all raising price targets recently. The consensus rating is now Moderate Buy, with an average target price of $82.68.
• Delta also reported solid fundamentals: quarterly EPS of $0.64 beat estimates, revenue rose 9.4% year over year, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.215 per share. The stock was trading near its 52-week high at $86.75.

Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 189,365 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,895 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $13,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.0% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 457,796 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,980,000 after purchasing an additional 56,365 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,041,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 107,173 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,438,000 after purchasing an additional 19,829 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,142 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,395,000 after buying an additional 32,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 66.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 911,136 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $51,707,000 after buying an additional 362,329 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Key Delta Air Lines News

Here are the key news stories impacting Delta Air Lines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Delta to $93 from $78 and kept a buy rating, signaling confidence in further upside. Bank of America raises Delta price target
• Positive Sentiment: Argus also lifted its target to $100 from $85 and reiterated a buy rating, adding to the bullish analyst momentum. Argus raises Delta price target
• Positive Sentiment: Josh Brown recommended sticking with Delta as one of three winning stocks, saying its recent outperformance supports owning it for the long term. Josh Brown recommends Delta
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a large new stake in Delta Air Lines, which investors may interpret as a major vote of confidence from a highly respected value investor. Berkshire buys Delta shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Delta shareholders backed the current board and governance structure at the annual meeting, removing a potential source of uncertainty but not changing the company’s operating outlook. Delta shareholders back board governance status quo
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Ed Bastian said airline ticket prices should ease only when more supply enters the market, highlighting industry capacity constraints rather than a company-specific issue. Delta CEO on ticket prices

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of DAL opened at $86.75 on Wednesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.12 and a 1-year high of $87.39. The company has a market capitalization of $56.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $75.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.57.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.54%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 9,710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $737,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 138,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,552,904. This represents a 6.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total transaction of $4,723,067.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at $4,727,497.35. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 149,635 shares of company stock worth $10,833,855. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $98.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.68.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.

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