Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,509 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 220,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,340,000 after purchasing an additional 13,420 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 583,734 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,316,000 after buying an additional 19,463 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 40,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 8,264 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 119,834 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.1 %

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $65.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.53. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company 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 30.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on DAL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. 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 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.