Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,393 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.7 %

DAL opened at $46.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.