Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Sold by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 44.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 41,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 33,016 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 28,167 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,620 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,652,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 6,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on DAL. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.40.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of DAL stock opened at $85.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.56. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.44 and a twelve month high of $95.68. The company has a market capitalization of $55.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The transportation company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The company had revenue of $17.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 14.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 9,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 138,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,552,904. This trade represents a 6.54% 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 this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total transaction of $2,036,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 95,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,738,836. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 65,331 shares of company stock worth $5,036,638 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Delta Air Lines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Delta continues to draw investor interest as a major U.S. carrier with a strong Atlanta hub and ongoing travel demand support, which can help keep sentiment constructive around the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Delta has also been trading with relatively low implied volatility, suggesting options are inexpensive and that traders may be positioning for a move higher or a stable range. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Delta reportedly outperformed other airline stocks even as the broader group weakened, indicating relative strength rather than a clear company-specific catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Rising jet fuel prices are pressuring U.S. airline earnings forecasts, and Delta has already flagged fuel expense as a key margin headwind, which is weighing on airline shares. Article Title

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.