Assetmark Inc. Grows Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $228,000 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. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Mason & Associates Inc grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $43.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.60.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents 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. 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.