Empower Advisory Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 56.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 11,385 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC boosted 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 valued at $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $189,296,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,497,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,637,000 after purchasing an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $65.04 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.29 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $64.26 and its 200 day moving average is $56.11.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the 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 owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

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.