Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 5,487 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,915 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 5,487 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $9,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after acquiring an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $68.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.77. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. 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 (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at $2,479,212.12. This trade represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 124,863 shares of company stock worth $8,649,150. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DAL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.