Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Holdings Lifted by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 59.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,311 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.6 %

DAL opened at $64.36 on Wednesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.23 and a 200-day moving average of $56.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $41.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued 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. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.