433,500 Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Purchased by Park West Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Park West Asset Management LLC has purchased 433,500 shares of Delta Air Lines, valued at approximately $18.9 million, making it the 28th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Several research firms have recently upgraded their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with Citigroup increasing its target from $62.00 to $65.50 and Raymond James from $60.00 to $68.00.
• Delta Air Lines declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, representing a yield of 1.2% , up from the previous dividend of $0.15.

Park West Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 433,500 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $18,901,000. Delta Air Lines makes up approximately 1.5% of Park West Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Park West Asset Management LLC owned 0.07% of Delta Air Lines as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $189,081,000 after acquiring an additional 4,255,262 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 149.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $246,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,577,489 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 347.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $184,909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286,741 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $144,273,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at about $122,849,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $66.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $151,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of DAL traded down $1.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,420,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,777,883. The company has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $56.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.56. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.1875 dividend. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.87%.

About Delta Air Lines

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.