Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Bought by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 29.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,185 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,373 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $9,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,374 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,947 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter worth approximately $1,028,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.53.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $57.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $37.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.50. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $59.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.71.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 23.83%. Analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 10.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $858,112.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,816 shares in the company, valued at $968,730. This represents a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,833 shares of company stock valued at $2,463,585. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.