Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 14,732 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,717,488 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 14,732 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.26% of Delta Air Lines worth $119,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 90.6% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 444 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 1,983.3% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. SWAN Capital LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 1,016.0% in the third quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DAL. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Seaport Research Partners raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $81.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.28 and a twelve month high of $83.83. The stock has a market cap of $53.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $72.72 and its 200 day moving average is $69.44.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total value of $395,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 133,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,574,466. The trade was a 3.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total transaction of $2,036,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,738,836. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.