Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Sold by SCS Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC cut its Delta Air Lines stake by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 25,498 shares valued at about $1.77 million.
• Insiders sold shares during the quarter, including EVP Alain Bellemare and EVP John E. Laughter, with total insider sales of 149,635 shares worth $10.8 million.
• Delta reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $0.64 versus $0.61 expected and revenue of $14.2 billion, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus and average target price of $80.85.

SCS Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 32.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,498 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 12,390 shares during the quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rothschild Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 13,787 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 6,096 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 72,385 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,884 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total value of $2,036,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,738,836. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $1,074,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,893,364.09. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $81.45 on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.28 and a 1-year high of $83.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.48 and a 200-day moving average of $68.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $53.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.30.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be given a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on DAL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered Delta Air Lines from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.

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