Ping Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,000 Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Ping Capital Management Inc. acquired 5,000 shares of Delta Air Lines, valued at approximately $246,000, during the second quarter, adding to a growing interest from institutional investors.
• Delta Air Lines experienced a 1.7% increase in its stock price, currently trading at $57.05, with analysts raising their price targets for the stock significantly.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, scheduled for payment on November 6th.

Ping Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,000 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter worth $386,364,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 4,255,262 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 149.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 347.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% in 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 during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $151,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. HSBC raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $67.69.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.7%

DAL opened at $57.05 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. Delta Air Lines's 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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