Arax Advisory Partners Sells 290,170 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Arax Advisory Partners sharply reduced its Delta Air Lines stake in the fourth quarter, selling 290,170 shares and cutting its position by 88.5%. It still held 37,663 shares valued at about $2.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with Delta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $80.85. Several firms recently adjusted targets, including TD Cowen raising its target to $92.
• Delta reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations with $0.64 EPS and $14.20 billion in revenue. The airline also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 0.9%.

Arax Advisory Partners lessened its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 88.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,663 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 290,170 shares during the period. Arax Advisory Partners' holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 444 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,983.3% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. SWAN Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,016.0% in the 3rd quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on DAL shares. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered Delta Air Lines from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. HSBC reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock opened at $83.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $54.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.30. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.28 and a 1 year high of $83.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $73.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.60.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.93%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total transaction of $4,723,067.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,497.35. The trade was a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total value of $2,036,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at $7,738,836. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 149,635 shares of company stock worth $10,833,855 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.

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