HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 57,522 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 243,745 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 57,522 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $14,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DAL. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $517,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,965 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after buying an additional 4,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $46.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $62.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.96. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DAL. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.60.

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.