Payden & Rygel Sells 24,000 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Payden & Rygel lowered its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 55.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 24,000 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2,742.4% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 31,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after buying an additional 30,002 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2,975.3% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 406,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,647,000 after purchasing an additional 393,305 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 12.4% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 155,721 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,426,000 after purchasing an additional 17,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 4.1 %

DAL stock opened at $37.13 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.32 and its 200 day moving average is $58.06. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. 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 note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.49.

Delta Air Lines Profile

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.