Intellectus Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Intellectus Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 55,491 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,833 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,618,627 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $105,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550,770 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,813,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $178,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,957 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,839,122 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $401,048,000 after purchasing an additional 865,746 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 541.2% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 998,156 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,932,000 after purchasing an additional 842,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 4,434,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $178,400,000 after purchasing an additional 773,636 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.92. The company had a trading volume of 9,982,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,289,924. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.21. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.60 and a 52-week high of $50.24. The stock has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.42, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on DAL. TheStreet raised Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group started coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $58.29.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total value of $4,905,000.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,672,495.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total value of $4,905,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 217,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,672,495.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,913 shares of company stock worth $8,897,335 over the last three months. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.