Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 47.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 590,129 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 190,727 shares during the quarter. Delta Air Lines comprises approximately 1.6% of Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Delta Air Lines worth $23,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 495.7% during the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 396.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 55.2% in the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 874 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth $35,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet upgraded Delta Air Lines from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group began coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $58.29.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.86. The stock had a trading volume of 16,343,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,813,959. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.60 and a 12 month high of $49.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.15 billion, a PE ratio of 6.12, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.29.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 10th. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.14%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.