Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Bought by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 2,742.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,002 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.8% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16.9% in the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 3.0% in the third quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $65.77 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.34 and a twelve month high of $67.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.86.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The company had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DAL shares. 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 note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.83.

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.