UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 8,465 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 18.5%, acquiring an additional 8,465 shares, bringing its total holdings to 54,285 shares valued at approximately $2.37 million.
• Delta Air Lines announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, an increase from their previous dividend of $0.15, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.
• A majority of institutional investors now own 69.93% of Delta Air Lines' stock, with several firms significantly increasing their stakes in recent months.

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,285 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 8,465 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC increased 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 21,148 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 21,405 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 5,199 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $66.93.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total transaction of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,769,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,842,945. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $39.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.51. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.61.

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 (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 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 revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is presently 10.87%.

Delta Air Lines 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.