Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 56,571 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,724,032 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 56,571 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.27% of Delta Air Lines worth $104,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at approximately $189,296,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,577,000. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $1,414,074,000 after buying an additional 749,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,808 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,865,000 after buying an additional 453,547 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:DAL traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.89. 17,058,560 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,787,192. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $30.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.02.

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

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 11.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $76.29.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.