Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 160,684 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $842,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,053 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,030,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $719,526,000 after purchasing an additional 49,712 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 220.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,600,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $346,008,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914,301 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,374,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $336,908,000 after buying an additional 826,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 6,467,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $260,198,000 after buying an additional 1,376,221 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $439,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $878,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of DAL traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 451,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,463,301. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.65 and its 200-day moving average is $45.99. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.60 and a 52-week high of $53.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.18, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.01). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 36.02% and a net margin of 7.46%. The business had revenue of $15.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.