Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Sold by GMT Capital Corp

GMT Capital Corp reduced its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,459,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 450,500 shares during the period. Delta Air Lines comprises about 16.1% of GMT Capital Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. GMT Capital Corp owned about 0.68% of Delta Air Lines worth $309,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 28,167 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 4,721 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 6,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on DAL. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total value of $4,723,067.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at $4,727,497.35. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 9,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $737,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 138,854 shares in the company, valued at $10,552,904. The trade was a 6.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of DAL opened at $83.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.28 and a 12-month high of $83.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.30.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.93%.

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.