Invesco Ltd. Purchases 1,681,464 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 30.2%, acquiring an additional 1,681,464 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 7.24 million shares worth $315.79 million.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with Morgan Stanley setting it at $90.00 and Barclays at $65.00, reflecting strong market confidence.
• Delta Air Lines announced a dividend increase to $0.1875 per share, up from $0.15, to be paid on August 21st, signaling positive financial performance.

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 30.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,242,852 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,681,464 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 1.11% of Delta Air Lines worth $315,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,353,000. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $275,000. Keystone Financial Group bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, Tribune Investment Group LP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,264,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DAL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Susquehanna Bancshares increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $53.54 on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.28. 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 market cap of $34.96 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.56.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.36 EPS. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.87%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.

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