Man Group plc Grows Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Man Group plc grew its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 338.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,518 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 178,769 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $14,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $328,398,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $152,342,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 29.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,800,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,932 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.11. 9,041,991 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,535,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The company has a market cap of $32.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.17.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.08.

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.