Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 48,269 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,350 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,839,122 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $401,048,000 after purchasing an additional 865,746 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 17.1% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,091,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $188,514,000 after buying an additional 743,882 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,966,330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $183,754,000 after acquiring an additional 145,513 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,813,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $178,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,957 shares during the period. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 4,434,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $178,400,000 after acquiring an additional 773,636 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL opened at $49.02 on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.60 and a 1-year high of $49.81. The stock has a market cap of $31.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.29.

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.