Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Acquired by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors increased its Delta Air Lines stake by 87.1% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 79,031 shares valued at about $5.5 million.
• Institutional interest in DAL remains strong, with hedge funds and large investors owning nearly 70% of the company’s stock and several firms significantly boosting positions.
• Analysts are mostly bullish on Delta, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $79.76, while Delta also recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 87.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,031 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,786 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DAL. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $471,532,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 54.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,817,783 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $330,159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,744 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,661,911 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $434,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,058 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16,044.7% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,263,320 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $71,693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansdowne Partners UK LLP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 47.0% during the third quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 2,284,257 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $129,632,000 after acquiring an additional 730,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on DAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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. UBS Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Delta Air Lines from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Seaport Research Partners increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.76.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $76.16 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $68.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.26. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.28 and a twelve month high of $77.10. The company has a market capitalization of $50.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.93%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 20,621 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.75, for a total value of $1,500,177.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 120,025 shares in the company, valued at $8,731,818.75. This trade represents a 14.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total value of $4,723,067.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,497.35. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 204,925 shares of company stock worth $14,323,395 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Company 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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