Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,090 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.8% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16.9% in the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. This represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $60.80 on Wednesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.34 and a 12 month high of $67.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.45.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on DAL shares. 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 note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.83.

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.