Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys 1,641 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 385,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,290,000 after acquiring an additional 125,314 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 36,439 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,523 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,039 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.5% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 41,935 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE DAL opened at $65.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.69 and a 12-month high of $68.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.54.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company 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 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total value of $470,276.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,130.14. The trade was a 11.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 117,319 shares of company stock worth $6,794,748 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

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.