Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 2,370,795 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 66.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,915,545 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,370,795 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.91% of Delta Air Lines worth $257,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $328,398,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $152,342,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 405.3% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,054,285 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $184,784,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449,874 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $602,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,254,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,800,754,000 after buying an additional 1,922,932 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,699,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,831,080. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $48.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.84. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.49.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 28.18% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.42.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.