Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Invests $573,000 in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 9,465 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,380,820,000 after buying an additional 456,465 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,800,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,932 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $968,234,000 after purchasing an additional 410,648 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $918,419,000 after purchasing an additional 46,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $670,994,000 after purchasing an additional 92,208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.42.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $50.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.84 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.28.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.64%.

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.