Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Holdings Lifted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 86.3% in the 2nd quarter, owning 449,929 shares valued at approximately $22.1 million.
• Delta's recent quarterly earnings surpassed estimates with $2.10 EPS, although revenue saw a 0.1% year-over-year decline, totaling $15.51 billion.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds currently hold 69.93% of Delta Air Lines' stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 86.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 449,929 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 208,391 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Delta Air Lines worth $22,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 161,395 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,037,000 after purchasing an additional 9,034 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,361 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $160,900,000 after purchasing an additional 92,772 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 152.3% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,567 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 7,586 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 8.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,374 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,169.4% in the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 6,677 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total transaction of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DAL. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.4%

DAL stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $58.93. 7,148,389 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,434,509. The company has a market capitalization of $38.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $57.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.54.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.