Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases 53,645 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 17.0%, acquiring an additional 53,645 shares, bringing its total ownership to 368,825 shares valued at approximately $18.14 million.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with JPMorgan Chase increasing its target from $72.00 to $85.00, indicating a strong market outlook for the company.
• Delta Air Lines reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.10, exceeding expectations, despite a slight decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 368,825 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 53,645 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.06% of Delta Air Lines worth $18,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JT Stratford LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 16,403 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. one8zero8 LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 21,405 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.0% during the first quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 5,199 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.4% during the first quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 17,550 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.0% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,754 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.7%

DAL stock opened at $56.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company's 50 day moving average is $58.06 and its 200 day moving average is $50.73. The stock has a market cap of $37.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.51. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 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, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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