Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Position Trimmed by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 361,213 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 12,800 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.06% of Delta Air Lines worth $14,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 5,408 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $130,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 49,941 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after buying an additional 20,845 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,618,627 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $105,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550,770 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total value of $4,905,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,672,495.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded up $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.24. 10,666,233 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,868,651. The company has a market capitalization of $31.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.41. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.60 and a 1-year high of $49.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.95.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet raised Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $58.29.

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.