Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 542 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,676 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 542 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 43,000 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE DAL opened at $64.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.15 and its 200-day moving average is $55.31. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective 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. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $78.22.

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.