Raymond James & Associates Sells 78,959 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 622,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 78,959 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $31,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at $1,710,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the first quarter worth $73,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,416 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $882,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’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 value of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted 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 note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $65.40.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $54.65 on Thursday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.60 and a 12-month high of $56.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $35.27 billion, a PE ratio of 7.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 7.46% and a return on equity of 36.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.63%.

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.