Mount Lucas Management LP Cuts Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Mount Lucas Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 22.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,973 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 12,064 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 928,215 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $56,157,000 after acquiring an additional 122,824 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,975,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 584,285 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,349,000 after purchasing an additional 86,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,380,820,000 after purchasing an additional 456,465 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total transaction of $1,007,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 have sold 98,973 shares of company stock valued at $5,541,946 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:DAL opened at $55.79 on Wednesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $36.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.46.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for 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 was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

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.

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