Jump Financial LLC Purchases 413,868 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 123.3% during the first quarter, owning approximately 749,397 shares worth $32.67 million.
• Delta Air Lines declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1875, raising its annualized dividend yield to 1.2% from $0.15 previously.
• Several analysts have recently raised their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with estimates ranging from $63.00 to $90.00, reflecting positive sentiment in the market.

Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 123.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 749,397 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 413,868 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Delta Air Lines worth $32,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,924,506 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,179,508,000 after purchasing an additional 514,264 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 30.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,242,852 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $315,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,464 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 66.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,915,545 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $257,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370,795 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,182,789 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $313,559,000 after purchasing an additional 447,560 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 4,746,535 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $287,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $60.45. 6,191,745 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,366,686. The company has a market capitalization of $39.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.56. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $53.91 and a 200 day moving average of $50.70.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The business had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.1875 dividend. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is presently 10.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $151,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,017,971.50. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on DAL. HSBC lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

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.