Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Sold by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 56.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,679 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 11,385 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at about $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after acquiring an additional 749,099 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,551,000 after acquiring an additional 453,926 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,865,000 after acquiring an additional 453,547 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 5.6 %

DAL traded down $3.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $60.18. 5,901,028 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,088,436. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.16. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.22.

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.