Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Holdings Lowered by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 18,400 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $2,036,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $789,452,000 after buying an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $3,593,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 562.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 11,260 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 9,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 23,657 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $37.13 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.49.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.