Empowered Funds LLC Has $15.70 Million Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 259,474 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 78,857 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $15,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.2% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at approximately $635,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 87.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 34,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 16,294 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.4% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,993 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the third quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. The trade was a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 124,863 shares of company stock valued at $8,649,150 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $68.14 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.01 and a 200-day moving average of $54.77. 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 stock has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 11.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

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.