Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,674 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 960 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $918,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 169.9% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 14,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 9,059 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,585 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 746.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 241,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,531,000 after purchasing an additional 212,990 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 3,935 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $57.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.50. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.65 and a 200-day moving average of $51.56. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 7.36%. On average, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 10.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna Bancshares upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $151,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. This represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. This represents a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,050 shares of company stock valued at $5,139,795. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

About Delta Air Lines

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.