Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd Invests $471.53 Million in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,794,403 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,532,000. Delta Air Lines makes up about 3.3% of Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.7% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 358,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,366,000 after purchasing an additional 25,507 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 87,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,957,000 after purchasing an additional 8,309 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 41.3% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 53,601 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,661 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.0% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 457,796 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,980,000 after purchasing an additional 56,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,041,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $1,074,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,893,364.09. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 20,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.75, for a total transaction of $1,500,177.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,731,818.75. The trade was a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 204,925 shares of company stock valued at $14,323,395. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of DAL stock opened at $76.16 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.28 and a 12 month high of $77.10. The stock has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.20.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.