Warren Buffett scooped up more Delta Air Lines stock last week as the shares tumbled while the market tilted into correction territory.
Entities owned by Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRKb ) paid $45.3 million on Feb. 27 for a total of 976,507 Delta shares (DAL), an average per-share price of $46.40. Berkshire Hathaway filed a form late Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that showed it now has overall ownership of 71.9 million Delta shares. Based on 644 million average diluted Delta shares outstanding for the three months ended Dec. 31, that’s an 11.2% stake in the airline. At the end of 2019, Buffett’s firm owned 70.9 million Delta shares, an 11.0% stake in the airline.
Berkshire Hathaway didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the stock purchase. It remains Delta’s top shareholder.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Delta stock traded to a multiyear intraday low of $44.33 on Monday; shares haven’t traded at that level since April 2017. Delta stock now sports a 19.4% year-to-date loss through Monday’s close. The S&P 500 index, a proxy of the broader market, has slipped only 4.4% so far in 2020.
Airline stocks have been hit particularly badly by fear surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin
