Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 438,674 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 92,744 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $26,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,380,820,000 after acquiring an additional 456,465 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $328,398,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,597,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $217,654,000 after buying an additional 100,102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $48.06 on Thursday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $31.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup cut their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.29.

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.