Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 11,097 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,207 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,097 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at approximately $189,296,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,497,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,637,000 after acquiring an additional 10,332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,479,212.12. This trade represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 124,863 shares of company stock valued at $8,649,150. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL opened at $68.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.85. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 30.43%. 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 company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DAL. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

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.