Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Bought by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon increased its Delta Air Lines stake by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 9.5 million shares worth about $659 million.
• Several other institutions also added to their positions, and overall 69.93% of Delta’s stock is now held by institutional investors. Meanwhile, insiders have been selling shares, with EVP John E. Laughter and EVP Alain Bellemare both making notable sales.
• Delta reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.64 per share on revenue of $14.2 billion, and analysts remain broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a price target of $80.85. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, equal to a 0.9% annualized yield.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,496,296 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,834,385 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.45% of Delta Air Lines worth $659,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 4,721 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 6,022 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,472 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,644 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 794 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $1,074,150.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,364.09. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total transaction of $2,036,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at $7,738,836. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock worth $10,833,855. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $78.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $51.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.30. The company's 50-day moving average price is $71.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.49. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.28 and a fifty-two week high of $83.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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 company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. Delta Air Lines's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is 10.93%.

About Delta Air Lines

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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