Meiji Yasuda America Inc Takes Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda America Inc opened a new position in Delta Air Lines, buying 58,657 shares valued at about $4.07 million in the fourth quarter. Institutional ownership remains high, with roughly 69.93% of the stock held by institutions.
• Analyst sentiment is still favorable overall: Delta has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average target price of $80.85. Recent moves were mixed, with UBS and TD Cowen raising targets while Susquehanna and Wolfe Research trimmed theirs.
• Delta reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS expectations with $0.64 per share on $14.20 billion in revenue, and revenue rose 9.4% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, equal to an annual yield of about 0.9%.

Meiji Yasuda America Inc bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 58,657 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $4,071,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cowa LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 4,084,386 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $283,456,000 after buying an additional 1,055,980 shares during the last quarter. Xponance LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 142,053 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $9,858,000 after buying an additional 28,283 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 28,167 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,955,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Delta Air Lines from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $73.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock opened at $81.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $72.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.44. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.28 and a twelve month high of $83.83. The firm has a market cap of $53.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.30.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The business had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total value of $395,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 133,854 shares in the company, valued at $10,574,466. This trade represents a 3.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $1,074,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 54,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,364.09. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 149,635 shares of company stock worth $10,833,855 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Company 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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