Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 803,158 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 16,425 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.12% of Delta Air Lines worth $48,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $571,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 96.2% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 141,016 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,531,000 after buying an additional 69,155 shares in the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 84,999 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,142,000 after acquiring an additional 10,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 23,738 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on DAL shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.49.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $37.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.06. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. The trade was a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is 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.