Ninety One North America Inc. Purchases Shares of 41,414 Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Ninety One North America purchased a new stake of 41,414 shares in Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) during Q4, valued at about $2.87 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Insider selling has been notable: EVP Alain Bellemare sold 35,212 shares and CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 100,000 shares, with insiders offloading 353,611 shares (≈$25.18 million) over the past 90 days.
• Delta beat Q1 expectations, reporting $0.64 EPS vs. $0.61 estimated and $14.20B revenue vs. $14.05B, which helped prompt analyst upgrades; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 (annualized $0.75, ~1% yield).

Ninety One North America Inc. purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 41,414 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $2,874,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 23.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,661,911 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $434,813,000 after buying an additional 1,447,058 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 54.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,817,783 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $330,159,000 after buying an additional 2,058,744 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 23.6% in the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,860,710 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $219,095,000 after buying an additional 736,342 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 1.3% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,447,917 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $195,669,000 after buying an additional 42,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 24.6% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,791,581 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $158,422,000 after purchasing an additional 550,480 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 35,212 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total value of $2,647,942.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 138,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,390,835.20. This represents a 20.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $7,026,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,363,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $95,795,856.48. The trade was a 6.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 353,611 shares of company stock valued at $25,182,798 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.6%

DAL opened at $71.73 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $47.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.26. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.80 and a fifty-two week high of $76.39.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is 10.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DAL. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.26.

Key Delta Air Lines News

Here are the key news stories impacting Delta Air Lines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fuel relief from Strait of Hormuz comments — Iran said the Strait of Hormuz will remain open, triggering a steep drop in crude (WTI and Brent) and easing near‑term jet‑fuel cost pressure for airlines, which lifted Delta shares. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets after Q1 — Several brokers have raised price targets and maintained buy ratings following Delta’s better‑than‑expected Q1 results and favorable commentary on premium and loyalty revenue, supporting upside sentiment. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks moves rating to Hold — Zacks upgraded DAL from "strong sell" to "hold," which is mild support but not a strong buy signal. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry M&A chatter — Ongoing discussion about consolidation among U.S. carriers (United/American rumors) can rotate investor flows across names; Delta may benefit as a standalone leader but the direct impact is indirect. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling disclosed — EVP John Laughter sold ~15,000 shares (SEC filing), which can spook some investors even if sales are for diversification or liquidity. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Sector risk from Spirit distress — Reports of rising bankruptcy/liquidation risk at Spirit Airlines are weighing on sector sentiment and could create volatility for peers, including Delta. Read More.

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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