Graham Capital Management L.P. Sells 37,149 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. reduced its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 63.0%, selling 37,149 shares and remaining with 21,804 shares valued at approximately $951,000.
• In the fourth quarter, several institutional investors increased their Delta Air Lines share holdings, with Brighton Jones LLC raising theirs by 33.5% and Aptus Capital Advisors LLC by 19.7%.
• Delta Air Lines declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, up from $0.15, representing an annualized yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 10.87%.

Graham Capital Management L.P. cut its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 63.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,804 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 37,149 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.12. The stock had a trading volume of 6,394,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,651,979. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock's 50 day moving average is $56.26 and its 200 day moving average is $50.56. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.51.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company 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%.Delta Air Lines's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $151,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, July 14th. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

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.