Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Cuts Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,273 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 488 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $6,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $842,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,053 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,981,124 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $602,691,000 after buying an additional 79,818 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 220.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,600,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $346,008,000 after buying an additional 5,914,301 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,374,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $336,908,000 after buying an additional 826,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 6,467,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $260,198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,221 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at $6,911,295.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Delta Air Lines news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total value of $4,905,000.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,672,495.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,919 shares of company stock worth $8,834,653 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on DAL. UBS Group assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.36.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:DAL traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.17. The stock had a trading volume of 2,580,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,600,563. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.60 and a twelve month high of $53.86. The company has a market capitalization of $28.50 billion, a PE ratio of 5.79, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.48.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $15.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.45 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.5 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.14%.

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.