Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,812,899 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 284,379 shares during the period. Delta Air Lines accounts for approximately 1.2% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.44% of Delta Air Lines worth $170,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced 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 note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $43.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

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.