Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 8.9%, now owning approximately 1.35 million shares valued at about $58.85 million.
• While institutional investors hold 69.93% of Delta's stock, recent activity includes significant increases in holdings from firms like Continuum Advisory LLC, which raised its stake by 44.2%.
• Delta Air Lines announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, up from $0.15, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,349,834 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 132,327 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.21% of Delta Air Lines worth $58,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,725 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,190,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 16,403 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 21,148 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, one8zero8 LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.1% during the first quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 21,405 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was 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 directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. This trade represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $151,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 33,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,017,971.50. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DAL. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:DAL opened at $61.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.78.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

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

About Delta Air Lines

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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