Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 997 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $189,296,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $64,577,000. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after buying an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,865,000 after buying an additional 453,547 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 NYSE DAL opened at $46.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $30.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.29 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.34 and its 200 day moving average is $58.08.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.60.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.