Calamos Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Calamos Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 427,151 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 36,721 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Delta Air Lines worth $17,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 65.9% in the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 77,805 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,130,000 after buying an additional 30,900 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,461 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 2,455 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 245.2% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 613,068 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $24,664,000 after acquiring an additional 435,452 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 556.1% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 4,494 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE DAL traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.57. 9,246,243 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,882,577. The stock has a market cap of $30.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.17, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.64. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.60 and a 1-year high of $49.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The business's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DAL. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. TheStreet raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $58.29.

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.