Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Stake Boosted by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 19.6% in Q1, now owning 450,711 shares valued at approximately $19.65 million.
• Analysts have raised Delta Air Lines' price targets, with JPMorgan increasing it from $66.00 to $72.00 and the consensus target now at $66.21.
• Delta Air Lines declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1875, up from the previous $0.15, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 19.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 450,711 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 73,801 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.07% of Delta Air Lines worth $19,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.6% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,676,311 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $73,087,000 after buying an additional 104,319 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 149.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $246,487,000 after buying an additional 3,577,489 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 49.5% during the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 26,389 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 8,733 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter worth approximately $47,960,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 69.3% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 15,331 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 6,277 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL traded down $1.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.75. The company had a trading volume of 6,420,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,412,161. The company has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.51. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The business's 50-day moving average is $56.51 and its 200 day moving average is $50.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.51 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 firm's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.1875 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.