Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Bought by Teza Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Teza Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Delta Air Lines, raising its position by 461.7% in the first quarter, owning 22,169 shares valued at approximately $967,000.
• CEO Edward H. Bastian and EVP Alain Bellemare sold a combined total of 80,423 shares of Delta Air Lines stock recently, indicating a decrease in their ownership stakes.
• Delta Air Lines announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.1875, demonstrating positive growth despite a slight revenue drop compared to the previous year.

Teza Capital Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 461.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,169 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,222 shares during the quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of Delta Air Lines 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were 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 approximately $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% 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 valued at $7,663,496 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $61.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.51. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.74 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The business's fifty day moving average price is $56.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.56.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

About Delta Air Lines

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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