Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $2.27 Million Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,955 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.4% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 22,110 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 338,331 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,184,000 after buying an additional 52,775 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 93,706 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,759,000 after buying an additional 6,896 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 25.8% in the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 56,887 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,889,000 after buying an additional 11,669 shares during the period. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 8.9% in the third quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.22.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $64.07 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.70. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.28 and a 52-week high of $66.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $41.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 8.33%.

Delta Air Lines 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.