Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Decreases Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,142,462 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 98,909 shares during the quarter. Delta Air Lines makes up approximately 1.8% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC owned 0.33% of Delta Air Lines worth $129,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after acquiring an additional 749,099 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after buying an additional 416,338 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after buying an additional 1,105,674 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $281,206,000. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $189,296,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.8 %

DAL traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $61.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,650,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,138,154. The stock has a market cap of $39.79 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.34 and a fifty-two week high of $67.50. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.95 and its 200-day moving average is $51.59.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.06.

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.