Cerity Partners LLC Buys 83,289 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 588.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,448 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $3,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 41.8% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,838 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 7,616 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 20.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,918 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 3.1% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $58.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE DAL opened at $47.88 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.90 billion, a PE ratio of 6.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.87 and a 200 day moving average of $39.58. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.60 and a 1 year high of $49.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.14%.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.