Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Bought by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 404,638 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,450 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.06% of Delta Air Lines worth $20,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16.9% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Total Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.0% during the third quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $63.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $41.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.52. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.19 and a twelve month high of $66.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 8.33%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.