Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Mason & Associates Inc grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on DAL. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective 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. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL opened at $65.41 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.29 and a 52 week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 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 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 0.92%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.