HC Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

HC Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,651 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 471 shares during the period. HC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 419.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,551,000 after purchasing an additional 453,926 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,865,000 after purchasing an additional 453,547 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DAL. Barclays boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $59.71 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $64.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.94. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $38.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’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 value of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.