Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 28.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,172 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,661 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DAL. Mason & Associates Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16.9% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total value of $585,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,755,460.39. This represents a 13.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 217,429 shares of company stock valued at $13,755,259. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on DAL. TD Cowen upped their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE DAL opened at $67.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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.