Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Acquired by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 25.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,264 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after acquiring an additional 13,802 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after buying an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of DAL stock opened at $65.41 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.62. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company has a market capitalization of $42.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.22.

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.