Xponance Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Xponance Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 37.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,859 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,372 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at about $517,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 169,056 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,587,000 after buying an additional 19,350 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.7% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 478,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,323,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at about $453,000. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.4% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 56,926 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after buying an additional 4,413 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 4.0 %

DAL opened at $47.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.07. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DAL. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

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

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.