B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Purchases Shares of 9,435 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,435 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,380,820,000 after acquiring an additional 456,465 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth $328,398,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,597,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $217,654,000 after purchasing an additional 100,102 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,544,750 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $214,457,000 after purchasing an additional 274,067 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $37.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.06. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DAL. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.49.

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.