Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $143.30 Million Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,286,712 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 376,229 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.50% of Delta Air Lines worth $143,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently 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 fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,380,820,000 after acquiring an additional 456,465 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,800,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,932 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $968,234,000 after buying an additional 410,648 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $918,419,000 after acquiring an additional 46,101 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% during the fourth 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 period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Susquehanna Bancshares raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bernstein Bank boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE DAL traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $56.31. 8,975,576 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,908,017. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $50.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.56. The company has a market cap of $36.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.49.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during 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 revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% 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 Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were 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 directly owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,973 shares of company stock worth $5,541,946 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.