Empowered Funds LLC Has $15.70 Million Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 259,474 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 78,857 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $15,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.2% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth $635,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 87.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 34,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,774,000 after buying an additional 16,294 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.4% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,993 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 1,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% in the third quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 124,863 shares of company stock valued at $8,649,150. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $68.14 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.77. The company has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.