Meeder Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 96.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,016 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,155 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $8,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $43.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $28.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines’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 firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Equities 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.29.

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.