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

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

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

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. 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 posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. BNP Paribas upgraded Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.22.

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.