Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $22.39 Million Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 1.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 472,054 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 5,356 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $22,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DAL. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 26,166.7% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 788 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 122.5% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 821 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $439,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $878,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. HSBC began coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.80 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL opened at $42.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a PE ratio of 6.11, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.60 and a 52-week high of $53.86.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $15.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.45 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.46% and a return on equity of 36.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.63%.

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.