Virtu Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 27,330 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 27,330 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,192,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 161,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,037,000 after purchasing an additional 9,034 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 152.3% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,567 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 7,586 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,374 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 145,240 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,332,000 after acquiring an additional 25,406 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. Susquehanna Bancshares upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna set a $65.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $53.54 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.28. The stock has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.56.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

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.