Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 96.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 159,207 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,937,777 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $9,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at $386,364,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 149.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $246,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,577,489 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,572,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,667,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648,071 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter worth $47,960,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 39.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,407,585 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $118,409,000 after buying an additional 685,312 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $70.86 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $46.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.37. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $72.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 23.83% and a net margin of 7.36%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DAL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 price target on Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-two have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 23,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total value of $1,453,722.59. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 81,109 shares in the company, valued at $5,055,523.97. This represents a 22.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $858,112.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $968,730. This trade represents a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.