Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $474.26 Million Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has reduced its shareholding in Delta Air Lines by 1.9%, now holding almost 10.88 million shares valued at approximately $474.3 million.
• Delta Air Lines reported quarterly earnings of $2.10 per share, exceeding analyst predictions, but its revenue slightly decreased by 0.1% year-over-year
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.1875 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.2%, reflecting a shift from the previous dividend of $0.15.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,877,945 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 212,264 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.67% of Delta Air Lines worth $474,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DAL. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,725 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,190,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,671 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 21,148 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares in the company, valued at $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This trade represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL traded down $1.3770 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $59.1230. 4,686,534 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,723,851. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $53.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.06.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The company's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.87%.

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.