Calamos Advisors LLC Purchases 39,650 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Calamos Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 12.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 365,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,650 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $17,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 99,279 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,883,000 after acquiring an additional 5,526 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,757,932 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $822,127,000 after purchasing an additional 527,570 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.8% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 120,705 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,936,000 after purchasing an additional 4,375 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 335.3% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 95,616 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,702,000 after purchasing an additional 73,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Quarterback LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at approximately $454,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 23,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total transaction of $1,453,722.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 81,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,055,523.97. This represents a 22.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $151,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,017,971.50. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 39,833 shares of company stock worth $2,463,585 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 4.6%

NYSE DAL opened at $60.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $39.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.94 and a 200-day moving average of $54.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 23.83% and a net margin of 7.36%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th were issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DAL. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $69.20 to $73.70 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Seaport Global Securities upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.53.

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.