Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Position Lowered by Primecap Management Co. CA

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.4%, selling 524,360 shares during the first quarter, which resulted in ownership of approximately 3.28% of the company's stock valued at $933.37 million.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on Delta Air Lines, with TD Cowen and BNP Paribas Exane raising their target prices to $66.00 and $70.00 respectively, while Wall Street Zen downgraded their rating from "buy" to "hold."
• Delta Air Lines recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, representing a 1.4% yield, up from its previous dividend of $0.15.

Primecap Management Co. CA cut its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,407,647 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 524,360 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 3.28% of Delta Air Lines worth $933,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,924,506 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,179,508,000 after buying an additional 514,264 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,800,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,932 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $918,419,000 after purchasing an additional 46,101 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $670,994,000 after buying an additional 92,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $602,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254,560 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. This represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746 in the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of DAL stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.67. 6,634,357 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,852,598. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.70. 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 fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $35.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.56.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Bernstein Bank boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.21.

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.