Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Decreases Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. has significantly reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines, selling 2,408,674 shares, which represents a 78.9% decrease, leaving them with only 645,611 shares valued at $28.15 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Centiva Capital LP, have made adjustments to their holdings in Delta Air Lines, indicating a mix of increases and new positions in the fourth quarter.
• Delta Air Lines recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.1875 per share, reflecting a 1.2% yield and a payout ratio of 10.87%.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 78.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 645,611 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 2,408,674 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.10% of Delta Air Lines worth $28,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $189,081,000 after acquiring an additional 4,255,262 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 347.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $184,909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286,741 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% during the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $144,273,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098,237 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at about $122,849,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,915,545 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $257,918,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,795 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.9%

DAL stock traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.12. 6,394,954 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,640,003. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $56.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.51. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The firm's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.1875 dividend. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

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.