VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires New Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 307,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,829,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 8,578.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,516,676 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,734,272,000 after buying an additional 18,303,318 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,182,646,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 137.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,811,787 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $958,538,000 after acquiring an additional 7,994,004 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth $471,532,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,579.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,673,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $185,534,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514,193 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE DAL opened at $80.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $52.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $95.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.33 and a 200-day moving average of $76.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The transportation company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $17.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.43 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $0.215 dividend. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 14.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 24th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.72, for a total value of $3,245,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,718. This trade represents a 26.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Peter W. Carter sold 39,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.98, for a total transaction of $3,709,902.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 424,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,488,977.92. This trade represents a 8.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 356,726 shares of company stock worth $33,081,037. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.