First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,626 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 26,166.7% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 788 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 122.5% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 821 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Nordwand Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang acquired 10,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $439,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $878,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,143,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,605,369. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $53.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.94 billion, a PE ratio of 5.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $15.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.45 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 36.02% and a net margin of 7.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 8.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DAL. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

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.