Bessemer Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 33.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,011 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 8,140 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $2,036,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $3,593,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 562.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 11,260 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 9,559 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 23,657 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.81. 8,109,884 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,273,830. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $49.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.35. The firm has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $77.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.06.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold 154,486 shares of company stock valued at $10,561,895. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.