Mount Lucas Management LP Trims Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Mount Lucas Management LP decreased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 48.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,813 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 55,767 shares during the quarter. Delta Air Lines accounts for approximately 1.0% of Mount Lucas Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Senator Investment Group LP lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% during the 2nd quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 135,098 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,859,000 after purchasing an additional 35,792 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. This represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. BNP Paribas raised Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $64.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.28 and a twelve month high of $66.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.34 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.71.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 8.33%.

About Delta Air Lines

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.