Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Acquired by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has significantly increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by over 5,224%, acquiring a total of 4,336,709 shares valued at approximately $189 million.
• Delta Air Lines recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.10, exceeding estimates, despite a slight decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.1875 per share, with the next payment scheduled for August 21st, representing an annual yield of 1.37%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 5,224.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 4,255,262 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.66% of Delta Air Lines worth $189,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 694.3% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 29,976 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,307,000 after buying an additional 26,202 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 15.0% in the first quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 4,430 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 30,961 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.7% during the first quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 32,790 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 6,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 85,565 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,731,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock opened at $54.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $35.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.45. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost 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 1.37%. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is 8.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna Bancshares boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of Delta Air Lines 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 directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were 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 $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% 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 three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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