Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Sold by Highland Capital Management LLC

Highland Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 146,656 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,185 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DAL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at approximately $386,364,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $189,081,000 after purchasing an additional 4,255,262 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 149.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $246,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,577,489 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 347.4% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $184,909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% in the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $144,273,000 after buying an additional 3,098,237 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares in the company, valued at $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL stock opened at $57.32 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $37.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.21. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DAL. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nineteen have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.84.

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.