Pzena Investment Management LLC Sells 604,370 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Pzena Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,932,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 604,370 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.76% of Delta Air Lines worth $298,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third 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 period. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $2,036,000. New Millennium Group LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 314.0% during the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 36,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 27,654 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth about $189,296,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of DAL opened at $50.28 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.95. The company has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. 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 1-year low of $37.29 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its 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. 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 30.41%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DAL. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average 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.