Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors lowered its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,037,188 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 2,367,559 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 2.95% of Delta Air Lines worth $1,151,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $328,398,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $152,342,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $602,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254,560 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,800,754,000 after buying an additional 1,922,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansdowne Partners UK LLP lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 3,445,447 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $208,450,000 after buying an additional 1,387,201 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Barclays lowered their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.06.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE DAL traded down $1.40 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $39.45. 9,060,132 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,272,999. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.42. The stock has a market cap of $25.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is currently 10.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 154,486 shares of company stock valued at $10,561,895. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.