Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $3.62 Million Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 98.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,744 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,769,500 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $3,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DAL. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Mason & Associates Inc grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on DAL. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $48.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.48 and its 200 day moving average is $58.29. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. 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 posted $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’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 directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines 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.