Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 53.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,784 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,479 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Connective Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $908,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 23,657 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total transaction of $3,830,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 125,719 shares of company stock valued at $7,349,316 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $68.38 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. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.98 and a 1-year high of $68.99. The stock has a market cap of $44.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.67.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.