South Dakota Investment Council Sells 179,389 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 52.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 163,789 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 179,389 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $9,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on DAL. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $59.88 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $38.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 30.41%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.26%.

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.