Creative Planning Boosts Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 15.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,851 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 30,371 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $11,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 160,140 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,876,000 after purchasing an additional 13,406 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,844 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,451,418 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $169,741,000 after purchasing an additional 164,706 shares during the period. Islay Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,028,000. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 166,943 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,210,000 after buying an additional 26,461 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $57.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.11. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 10.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on DAL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.68.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 23,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total transaction of $1,453,722.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 81,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,055,523.97. This represents a 22.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $858,112.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $968,730. The trade was a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.