Sigma Planning Corp Has $1.27 Million Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 61.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,925 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 32,839 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after buying an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 43,000 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $61.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.28 and a 200-day moving average of $56.73. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $39.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Company 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.