Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 4,769,500 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 98.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,744 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,769,500 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $3,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $2,036,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after acquiring an additional 416,338 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth about $189,296,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $3,593,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 232,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,804,000 after purchasing an additional 55,318 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $48.89 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.29. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $31.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

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

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DAL. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 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 report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective 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. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $76.29.

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.