Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL Sells 2,800 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lowered its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought 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 Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,217,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after buying an additional 1,105,674 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in 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 during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on DAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.69. 1,233,925 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,197,667. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $59.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.24. The firm has a market cap of $39.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.34 and a 52 week high of $67.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.33%.

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.