Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 369,621 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 31.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 819,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 369,621 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.13% of Delta Air Lines worth $43,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.8% during the third 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 period. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.4 %

DAL opened at $60.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.44, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.34 and a 1-year high of $67.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.45.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The business had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 8.33%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at $6,739,564.86. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.