Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 109,977 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,795,000 after purchasing an additional 20,057 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,090 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 7,586 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $151,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. This represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,510 shares of company stock worth $2,979,663. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.53.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $59.70 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.07. The stock has a market cap of $38.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.40. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 23.83% and a net margin of 7.36%. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 10.56%.

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.