Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Increases Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 25.9% in Q1, owning 68,000 shares valued at approximately $2.97 million.
• Multiple hedge funds significantly boosted their holdings in Delta Air Lines, with Pacer Advisors Inc. increasing its stake by over 5,200%, now owning 4.34 million shares.
• Delta Air Lines' quarterly earnings exceeded estimates with an EPS of $2.10 and the firm announced a dividend increase, raising the quarterly dividend to $0.1875 per share.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 25.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,000 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 414.4% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This trade represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DAL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. 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. Susquehanna set a $65.00 price target on Delta Air Lines and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $61.16. 6,453,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,794,736. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.03. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.56.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. 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. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is presently 10.87%.

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.