Fox Run Management L.L.C. Cuts Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. has reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines by 28.1%, selling 6,100 shares, leaving it with 15,579 shares worth approximately $679,000.
• Delta Air Lines reported earnings of $2.10 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, although revenue fell slightly year-over-year, with a total of $15.5 billion.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.1875, reflecting a move towards higher returns for shareholders, with an upcoming payment set for August 21st.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lessened its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 28.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,579 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 6,100 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 25.9% in the first quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 68,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,965,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 19.7% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 159,637 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,960,000 after buying an additional 26,268 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% in the first quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 66,579 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,903,000 after buying an additional 3,760 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 245.2% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 5,168 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 3,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,738,862 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $119,418,000 after buying an additional 103,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL traded down $0.5980 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.4920. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,728,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,572,089. 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 one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $39.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.56. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $53.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.06.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DAL. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.