Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 42.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 6,534 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American International Group Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 181,107 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,286,000 after buying an additional 2,783 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at about $749,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,127,607 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,364,000 after acquiring an additional 73,936 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 50,358 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,108,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $439,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $878,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE DAL traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.04. The stock had a trading volume of 3,822,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,456,171. The stock has a market cap of $27.13 billion, a PE ratio of 6.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.60 and a 1 year high of $53.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.95.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.01). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 36.02% and a net margin of 7.46%. The business had revenue of $15.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 8.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

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.