GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Boosts Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 700.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 71,103 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,224 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $4,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $386,364,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 149.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $246,487,000 after buying an additional 3,577,489 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,572,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,667,479,000 after buying an additional 1,648,071 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at $47,960,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,407,585 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $118,409,000 after buying an additional 685,312 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of DAL opened at $70.49 on Wednesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $72.34. The company has a market capitalization of $46.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.38. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.18.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 23.83%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $858,112.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $968,730. This represents a 46.97% 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 John E. Laughter sold 23,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total value of $1,453,722.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DAL. Seaport Global Securities boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-two have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.07.

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.