Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Bought by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 325.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 592,808 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 453,547 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.09% of Delta Air Lines worth $35,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 416,338 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $189,296,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,497,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,637,000 after buying an additional 10,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $69.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.41. 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 results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. This represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 128,423 shares of company stock worth $8,712,931 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

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.