Highland Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Highland Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,315 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 14,174 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $9,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $13,644,000 after acquiring an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total transaction of $470,276.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,130.14. This trade represents a 11.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction 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 in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 139,429 shares of company stock worth $9,339,519. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.57. 6,356,682 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,987,241. The stock has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $63.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.