Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Sold by PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab

PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab decreased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 74.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,769 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 19,987 shares during the quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 28,167 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,955,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,620 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,652,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 6,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $75.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $112.00 target price on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.40.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $88.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.12 and a 12-month high of $95.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $86.62 and its 200-day moving average is $75.07.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The transportation company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The company had revenue of $17.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.72, for a total value of $3,245,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,810,718. This trade represents a 26.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 206,510 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.80, for a total value of $19,164,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,363,448 shares in the company, valued at $126,527,974.40. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 401,436 shares of company stock valued at $36,617,497. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Delta Air Lines

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.