Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,841 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,036,000. New Millennium Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 314.0% in the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 36,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after buying an additional 27,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after acquiring an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 3.2 %

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $53.18 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.88. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on DAL shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines 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.