Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 997 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 997 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $517,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,965 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third 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. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. 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.com, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.60.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 6.1 %

DAL stock opened at $46.60 on Monday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.29 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.