Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,516 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,410 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.60.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 6.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $46.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.84. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.