Payden & Rygel Decreases Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Payden & Rygel lowered its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 55.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 24,000 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2,742.4% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 31,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 30,002 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $272,000. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2,975.3% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 406,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,647,000 after acquiring an additional 393,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 12.4% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 155,721 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,426,000 after acquiring an additional 17,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.49.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL opened at $37.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.06. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98. 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 (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.