Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Stake Boosted by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 64.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 9,669 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 396.6% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,302.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,318 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,434 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at $6,911,295.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total value of $253,445.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 112,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,879,618.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,834,653. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $52.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.77 billion, a PE ratio of 6.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.38. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $30.60 and a one year high of $53.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.17.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 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.