Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $7.96 Million Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd trimmed its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 181,501 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 34,880 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 161,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,037,000 after acquiring an additional 9,034 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 152.3% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,567 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 7,586 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 8.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,374 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 145,240 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,332,000 after buying an additional 25,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,585 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Susquehanna Bancshares increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of DAL opened at $54.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.49. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is a boost 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 1.37%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

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.