Ballentine Partners LLC Acquires 643 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,856 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 643 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $988,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,014 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,906 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,095 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,391,000 after buying an additional 34,819 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 125,562 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,051,000 after buying an additional 7,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth $208,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $44.28 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.60 and a 52-week high of $53.86. The company has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $15.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.45 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.46% and a return on equity of 36.02%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Willie Cw Chiang purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $439,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $878,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

About Delta Air Lines

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.