Commerce Bank Raises Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,910 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Senator Investment Group LP lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% in the 2nd quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after buying an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 24,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DAL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.75.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $63.34 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.46 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 8.33%.

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.