Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Stock Position Trimmed by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers cut its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,021,101 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 7,324 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $61,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,551,000 after purchasing an additional 453,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,865,000 after purchasing an additional 453,547 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $65.41 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.62. The company has a market cap of $42.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released 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. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.26%.

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.