Cinctive Capital Management LP Sells 41,649 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Cinctive Capital Management LP has reduced its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 25%, now owning 124,730 shares valued at $5.43 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter, with Pacer Advisors Inc. raising its stake by over 5,224% and now owning around 4.34 million shares.
• Delta Air Lines recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.1875 per share, indicating a positive change and suggesting financial growth.

Cinctive Capital Management LP trimmed its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 25.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,730 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 41,649 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,525 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 1,894 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 65,289 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,950,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $723,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 56,659 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna Bancshares increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. HSBC increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a report on Friday, July 11th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on 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 reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "buy" 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,394,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,651,979. The company has a market cap of $39.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm's 50-day moving average is $56.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.56. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

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

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.