XTX Topco Ltd Has $7.70 Million Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 624.1% in the first quarter, owning approximately $7.70 million worth of the airline's shares.
• Insider selling has occurred, with EVP Steven M. Sear and CEO Edward H. Bastian selling 18,000 and 35,000 shares respectively, indicating significant changes in their holdings.
• Delta Air Lines recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.1875 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.35%.

XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 624.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,641 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 152,248 shares during the period. Delta Air Lines makes up about 0.4% of XTX Topco Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,800,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,932 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $968,234,000 after purchasing an additional 410,648 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $918,419,000 after purchasing an additional 46,101 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $670,994,000 after purchasing an additional 92,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $602,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254,560 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna Bancshares raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of NYSE DAL traded down $2.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.15. The stock had a trading volume of 9,532,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,176,950. The company has a market capitalization of $33.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.56. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $51.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.04. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.