Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Acquires New Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 5,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000. Delta Air Lines accounts for 0.7% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Navalign LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 17,402 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Summit X LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 28,205 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 874 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 34,868 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 13,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock traded up $0.22 on Tuesday, reaching $49.24. 10,666,233 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,868,651. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $49.81.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total value of $4,905,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,672,495.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.29.

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.