Boston Partners Invests $328.40 Million in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Boston Partners bought a new position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 5,392,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,398,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $189,296,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,577,000. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after acquiring an additional 749,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,865,000 after buying an additional 453,547 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value 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 approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DAL. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.60.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $46.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.12. The firm has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

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.