New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 339,925 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 11,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Delta Air Lines worth $14,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,555 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,528,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 4,860 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,725 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,190,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,973 shares of company stock worth $5,541,946. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of DAL stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,975,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,908,014. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.49. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $50.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is presently 8.70%.

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.