Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,193 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 4,155 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Mason & Associates Inc lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,820 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on DAL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock traded down $1.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $63.74. The company had a trading volume of 8,669,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,174,310. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $64.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.11. The company has a market cap of $41.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety 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.