Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Stock Position Reduced by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 803,158 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 16,425 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $48,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $328,398,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $152,342,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,577,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,380,820,000 after acquiring an additional 456,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,865,000 after acquiring an additional 453,547 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 in the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.49.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL opened at $37.13 on Friday. The stock 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. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Sell-side 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 was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given 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 dividend yield of 1.62%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

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.