Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd lowered its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,772 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 17,284 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 404,638 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,552,000 after purchasing an additional 12,450 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 44,735 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 16.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,571 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after buying an additional 5,046 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 90,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,609,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,329,941 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,548,000 after acquiring an additional 147,438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $43.80 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.39. The firm has a market cap of $28.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for 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%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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 was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % 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. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.