Mizuho Securities USA LLC Grows Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,763 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 19,181 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $3,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,036,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,452,000 after buying an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $189,296,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,593,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 31.2% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 232,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,804,000 after buying an additional 55,318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $46.89 on Monday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business 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 firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors 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 1.28%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

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.