Slate Path Capital LP Decreases Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Slate Path Capital LP lessened its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 54.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,975,145 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 3,511,855 shares during the quarter. Delta Air Lines comprises approximately 3.3% of Slate Path Capital LP's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Slate Path Capital LP owned about 0.46% of Delta Air Lines worth $179,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 417,070 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,233,000 after acquiring an additional 33,819 shares in the last quarter. Senator Investment Group LP lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 239.3% in the fourth quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 1,696,405 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $102,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,405 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 113.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 38,629 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 20,522 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 414.4% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,776 shares of company stock valued at $4,155,951 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Dbs Bank cut Delta Air Lines from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.06.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.64. The stock had a trading volume of 7,190,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,237,816. The stock has a market cap of $27.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company's 50 day moving average price is $47.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.10. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The firm had revenue of $12.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.64%.

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.