Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Decreases Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 113,598 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 38,032 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,661,911 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $434,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,058 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 54.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,817,783 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $330,159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,744 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.3% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,447,917 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,669,000 after acquiring an additional 42,878 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 24.6% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,791,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $158,422,000 after acquiring an additional 550,480 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.8% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,655,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $150,735,000 after acquiring an additional 47,631 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $69.07 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.01. The company has a market cap of $45.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.94 and a 52-week high of $76.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Trending Headlines about Delta Air Lines

Here are the key news stories impacting Delta Air Lines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Delta says it will invest roughly $500M this year in employee wage hikes — a move that should reduce labor unrest and help maintain capacity and service reliability, supporting revenue stability over time. Delta Air Lines Invests $500M in Workers’ Wage Hikes
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage is generally constructive: recent write-ups note Delta has outperformed peers and many analysts remain optimistic about the stock’s medium-term outlook — which can lend support to the share price. Delta Air Lines Stock Outlook: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?
• Neutral Sentiment: Delta is attracting investor attention and screeners (Zacks/MarketBeat coverage), which can increase trading interest but doesn’t on its own change fundamentals. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) is Attracting Investor Attention
• Negative Sentiment: Insiders sold roughly $60M of DAL stock recently — a potential red flag for sentiment and a short-term headwind as markets sometimes interpret large insider sales as caution. Delta Air Lines Insiders Sell US$60m Of Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Delta is implementing a roughly 4% pay increase for workers amid elevated fuel costs — good for labor relations but raises operating expenses and compresses margins if higher fares or ancillary revenue don’t offset the cost. Delta Hits Workers With 4% Raise As Fuel Costs Pressure Airlines
• Negative Sentiment: Brent crude spiked toward $117/barrel on geopolitical headlines, a direct driver of higher jet-fuel prices and a material margin risk for airlines including Delta. Brent Crude Spikes to $117 on Iran Military Option Reports
• Negative Sentiment: International carriers are already flagging sustained fuel-cost pressure, underscoring industry-wide margin risk if prices remain elevated. This broad cost backdrop is negative for airline profitability. Japan’s ANA, JAL say Middle East war lifts fuel costs

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.26, for a total transaction of $7,026,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,363,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,795,856.48. The trade was a 6.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 62,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total transaction of $4,388,215.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,469,499.02. The trade was a 74.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 353,611 shares of company stock valued at $25,182,798. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.10.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.