Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,393 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,036,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $789,452,000 after acquiring an additional 416,338 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth about $189,296,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth about $1,693,000. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,593,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of 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, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.29.

Insider Transactions 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.7 %

DAL stock opened at $46.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.99.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

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.