Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 152,812 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 10,977 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $6,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 414.4% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 991 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were 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 directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,318,974.36. This trade represents a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 98,973 shares of company stock worth $5,541,946. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DAL. Susquehanna set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.1%

DAL stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $56.31. 8,975,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,912,508. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.51. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.36 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. 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. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.