Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Holdings Lifted by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 150.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 676,505 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 406,414 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $29,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,190,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 21,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This trade represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $61.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.99. The company has a market cap of $39.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DAL. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna Bancshares increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. HSBC increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three equities 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.21.

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.