Westpac Banking Corp Trims Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Westpac Banking Corp reduced its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 89.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 35,259 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $328,398,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,342,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,577,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,380,820,000 after purchasing an additional 456,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,865,000 after purchasing an additional 453,547 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % 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 worth $11,116,463 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL opened at $37.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.06. The company has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on DAL. Barclays lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna raised 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.49.

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.