Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $8.07 Million Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 133,369 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 22,352 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $8,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 414.4% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of DAL opened at $41.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.05. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The firm had revenue of $12.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,776 shares of company stock worth $4,155,951 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.

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