Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,444 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,212 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth about $189,296,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $64,577,000. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,865,000 after buying an additional 453,547 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $46.88 on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.29 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

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.