New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Sells 55,887 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 53.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,138 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 55,887 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $189,081,000 after acquiring an additional 4,255,262 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% during the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $144,273,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098,237 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 405.3% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,054,285 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $184,784,000 after purchasing an additional 2,449,874 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,915,545 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $257,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 29.3% in the 4th 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 period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE:DAL opened at $54.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.78. 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 $35.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.