New York State Teachers Retirement System Grows Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 583,734 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 19,463 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Delta Air Lines worth $35,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at $189,296,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,497,487 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $177,637,000 after buying an additional 10,332 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $65.04. The stock had a trading volume of 7,444,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,153,316. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $64.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.05.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen increased 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 note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.