Twin Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Twin Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 309 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth $60,640,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,396,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504,544 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 211.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,127,687 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,810 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,234,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,700,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,578 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,813,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $178,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,957 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $47.57 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.60 and a 12-month high of $49.81. The company has a market cap of $30.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.72.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $58.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

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.