Benjamin Edwards Inc. Raises Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 2,742.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,002 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Senator Investment Group LP increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% in the second quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after buying an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after acquiring an additional 13,802 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total transaction of $470,276.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,130.14. The trade was a 11.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $65.77 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.34 and a 12-month high of $67.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $57.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.35.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results 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). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The company had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

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.