GoalVest Advisory LLC Takes $50,000 Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,042 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 443,435 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,407,000 after buying an additional 7,537 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 103,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,836,000 after buying an additional 742 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,727 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,914,000 after buying an additional 1,425 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 25,684 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $950,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 197.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 14,693 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 9,748 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total value of $1,176,206.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total value of $1,176,206.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at $6,911,295.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total transaction of $253,445.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 112,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,879,618.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,919 shares of company stock worth $8,834,653 in the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. HSBC started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.85.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $48.60 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $50.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $31.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.37. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $53.86.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.14%.

Delta Air Lines 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.