Metis Global Partners LLC Sells 3,712 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Metis Global Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,451 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,712 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $271,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $2,088,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $938,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 91,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,528,000 after purchasing an additional 37,547 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $58.36 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.26 and its 200 day moving average is $57.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

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.