GM Advisory Group LLC Buys New Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• GM Advisory Group LLC has acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines, Inc., purchasing 53,403 shares valued at approximately $2.33 million.
• Delta Air Lines recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, which marks an increase from its previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.
• The stock is currently down 1.0%, with a market capitalization of $39.50 billion and a 52-week price range between $34.74 and $69.98.

GM Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 53,403 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $2,328,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $189,081,000 after buying an additional 4,255,262 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $144,273,000 after acquiring an additional 3,098,237 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at approximately $122,849,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 405.3% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,054,285 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $184,784,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 66.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DAL. Susquehanna set a $65.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 6.6%

DAL stock traded up $3.7920 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.6320. The stock had a trading volume of 10,298,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,192,062. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.00. The firm has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.56. 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 (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.1875 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.87%.

Delta Air Lines 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.