Carret Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Carret Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 33.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,535 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,785 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 396.6% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 26,166.7% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 788 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 122.5% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 821 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total transaction of $253,445.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 112,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,879,618.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total transaction of $253,445.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 112,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,879,618.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Willie Cw Chiang acquired 10,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $49.50 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 178,919 shares of company stock worth $8,834,653. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.30.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE DAL opened at $47.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $53.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a PE ratio of 6.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.26.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 5.14%.

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.