Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 59,761 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC has increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 37.0%, acquiring an additional 59,761 shares, bringing its total holdings to 221,156 shares worth approximately $10.87 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Pacer Advisors Inc. and AQR Capital Management LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Delta Air Lines, highlighting strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Delta Air Lines, with various firms raising their price targets, indicating a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $67.84.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 37.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 221,156 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 59,761 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $10,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DAL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth $386,364,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 347.4% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $184,909,000 after buying an additional 3,286,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% during the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $144,273,000 after buying an additional 3,098,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $70.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Delta Air Lines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nineteen have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.84.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $57.32 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $58.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.50. 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, 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 10.87%.

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.

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