Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines by 35.1% after selling 42,836 shares, lowering its holdings to 79,067 shares valued at approximately $3.45 million.
• Insider sales included 18,000 shares by EVP Steven M. Sear and 45,423 shares by EVP Alain Bellemare, resulting in significant decreases in their ownership stakes.
• Several analysts have recently increased their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with Deutsche Bank raising it to $63.00 and JPMorgan Chase setting a target of $72.00, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lessened its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 35.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,067 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 42,836 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $3,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $968,234,000 after acquiring an additional 410,648 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $918,419,000 after acquiring an additional 46,101 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $670,994,000 after acquiring an additional 92,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,254,560 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $54.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,749,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,044,404. 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 moving average price of $51.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.22. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.49.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.36 EPS. The business's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746. Corporate insiders own 0.96% 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.