Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 17,614 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 435,278 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,614 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.07% of Delta Air Lines worth $20,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,234,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,700,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,578 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,652,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $756,110,000 after acquiring an additional 579,727 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 30.4% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,779,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $516,095,000 after acquiring an additional 3,445,953 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,168,804 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $459,144,000 after acquiring an additional 351,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 30.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,660,845 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $316,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,919 shares in the last quarter. 71.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David S. Taylor acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.75 per share, for a total transaction of $307,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,702.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David S. Taylor acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.75 per share, for a total transaction of $307,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,702.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,030 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $100,868.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,174,600.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $36.50 on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.60 and a 1 year high of $49.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.66.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 12th. The transportation company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.08. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 54.95% and a net margin of 5.94%. The business had revenue of $15.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 12th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 11th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.40.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines, Inc engages in the provision of scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. It operates through the Airline and Refinery segments. The Airline segment provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. The Refinery segment provides jet fuel to the airline segment.