AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 74.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,996 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 164,507 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 161,395 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,037,000 after acquiring an additional 9,034 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 152.3% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,567 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 7,586 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,374 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 145,240 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,332,000 after acquiring an additional 25,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,585 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DAL. Wall Street Zen downgraded Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna set a $65.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $56.31 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $50.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 10.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,973 shares of company stock worth $5,541,946 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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