MML Investors Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 18.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,389 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 11,094 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $3,626,000 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 the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,541 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 34,782 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,767,000 after purchasing an additional 8,402 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 375,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,072,000 after purchasing an additional 23,205 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 415.1% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,427 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 27,743 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 155,721 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,426,000 after acquiring an additional 17,160 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $61.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.34 and a fifty-two week high of $67.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.30.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.83.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. This represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total transaction of $3,830,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 over the last quarter. Company 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.