Raymond James Financial Inc. Increases Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 50.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,607,906 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 540,524 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.25% of Delta Air Lines worth $70,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.6% in the first quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 59,466 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,593,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 40.1% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,300,516 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,703,000 after purchasing an additional 372,301 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 58.4% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 184,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,932,000 after purchasing an additional 68,079 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 25.9% in the first quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 68,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,965,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 19.7% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 159,637 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,960,000 after purchasing an additional 26,268 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $59.0750 on Thursday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $38.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 1.89 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DAL. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines 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.