South Dakota Investment Council Has $9.91 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

South Dakota Investment Council cut its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 52.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 163,789 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 179,389 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $9,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 249.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,709 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $233,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 154,956 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,375,000 after buying an additional 11,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $417,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 6.1 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $59.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.44. The firm has a market cap of $38.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.