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

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 1.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 160,684 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DAL. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 89,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,617,000 after acquiring an additional 9,714 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,143 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $367,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 9,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.89. 451,135 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,463,301. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company 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. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.60 and a 52-week high of $53.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.99.

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

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. HSBC began coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Willie Cw Chiang purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $439,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $878,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

About Delta Air Lines

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.