State of Michigan Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 182,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $11,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after buying an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $56.83 on Thursday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $36.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.56.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, 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 transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

About Delta Air Lines

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.