Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Purchased by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. by 19.7%, owning 159,637 shares worth approximately $6.96 million following the acquisition of an additional 26,268 shares.
• Delta Air Lines recently had its quarterly earnings report, with earnings per share of $2.10, exceeding expectations, but its revenue decreased by 0.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.1875 per share, up from $0.15, indicating a positive shift in its dividend policy.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 19.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,637 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,268 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $6,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,924,506 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,179,508,000 after acquiring an additional 514,264 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $918,419,000 after acquiring an additional 46,101 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $670,994,000 after acquiring an additional 92,208 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 30.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,242,852 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $315,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 66.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,370,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Bernstein Bank lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This trade represents a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock traded down $0.5980 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.4920. 5,728,857 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,572,089. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $53.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.06. 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 company has a market cap of $39.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 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.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during 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%.Delta Air Lines's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.87%.

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.