First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 249.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,709 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,934 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth $233,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 154,956 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,375,000 after buying an additional 11,365 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $417,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 63,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,847,000 after acquiring an additional 9,335 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 in the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $61.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.89. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

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.