Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Position Cut by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines by 55.9%, now holding 34,876 shares worth approximately $1.72 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Delta Air Lines announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1875, payable on November 6th, reflecting an annualized dividend of $0.75 and a yield of 1.2%.
• Equities research analysts have raised their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with recent upgrades setting a new average target price of $71.53 and the majority endorsing a Buy rating.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. trimmed its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 55.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 34,876 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 44,191 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,924,506 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,179,508,000 after buying an additional 514,264 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at $386,364,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 30.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,242,852 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $315,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,464 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 149.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $246,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,577,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 66.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,915,545 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $257,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370,795 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $62.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company's 50-day moving average price is $59.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.47. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $40.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.50.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 23.83%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $858,112.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,816 shares in the company, valued at $968,730. The trade was a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $151,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. This trade represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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