MML Investors Services LLC Buys 14,808 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 86,197 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,808 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $328,398,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $152,342,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $602,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,254,560 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,800,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,932 shares during the period. Finally, Lansdowne Partners UK LLP lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 67.4% in the 4th quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 3,445,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $208,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,201 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. Citigroup cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.06.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $41.64 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.30 and its 200 day moving average is $57.01. The stock has a market cap of $27.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.64%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. The trade was a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 62,776 shares of company stock valued at $4,155,951. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.