Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd Takes Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Life Cycle Investment Partners disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Delta Air Lines, buying 6.79 million shares worth about $471.5 million. The stake represents roughly 1.04% of Delta and about 3.3% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on DAL, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.76. Recent updates included both upward and downward revisions, but most firms still rate the stock a buy or outperform.
• Delta’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with $0.64 EPS versus the expected $0.61 and revenue of $14.20 billion above estimates. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, or $0.75 annually.

Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,794,403 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $471,532,000. Delta Air Lines makes up about 3.3% of Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd owned approximately 1.04% of Delta Air Lines as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 444 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,983.3% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. SWAN Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,016.0% during the 3rd quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DAL. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three 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 "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.76.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.26, for a total value of $7,026,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,363,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,795,856.48. This represents a 6.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 20,621 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.75, for a total transaction of $1,500,177.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,731,818.75. This represents a 14.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 204,925 shares of company stock worth $14,323,395. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:DAL opened at $76.16 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $45.28 and a one year high of $77.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $68.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.

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