JNBA Financial Advisors Sells 1,175 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

JNBA Financial Advisors trimmed its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 44.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,449 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,175 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $88,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at about $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,551,000 after purchasing an additional 453,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $35,865,000 after purchasing an additional 453,547 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna boosted their price target 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.1 %

DAL opened at $65.41 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results 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. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’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 value of $6,405,943.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate 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.