Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Sells 10,660 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines by 34.0%, now holding 20,734 shares valued at approximately $1,020,000.
• Numerous hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and AQR Capital Management, increased their positions in Delta, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Analyst ratings for Delta Air Lines are generally positive, with target price increases from several firms, leading to a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price of $71.53.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 34.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,734 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 10,660 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,924,506 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,179,508,000 after buying an additional 514,264 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth $386,364,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 30.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,242,852 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $315,788,000 after buying an additional 1,681,464 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 149.9% during 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 66.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,915,545 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $257,918,000 after buying an additional 2,370,795 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on DAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Delta Air Lines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.53.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $62.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.59 and a 200 day moving average of $52.47. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 23.83% and a net margin of 7.36%. As a group, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,017,971.50. This trade represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $858,112.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at $968,730. This trade represents a 46.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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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