MIdWestOne Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

MIdWestOne Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,168 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 10,460 shares during the quarter. MIdWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 90.6% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 444 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,983.3% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DAL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 7.1%

DAL opened at $81.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $53.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.30. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.28 and a 52 week high of $83.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.44.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total value of $4,723,067.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,727,497.35. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 9,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $737,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 138,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,552,904. The trade was a 6.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.