Korea Investment CORP Lowers Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Korea Investment CORP lessened its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 31.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,486 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 37,491 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $4,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Blue Grotto Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,051,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,390 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,170,000 after buying an additional 2,432 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 17,810 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,528,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded down $4.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $38.70. The company had a trading volume of 18,094,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,118,893. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $25.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $57.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective 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. Barclays cut their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.