American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 364,313 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 28.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,664,829 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 364,313 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $81,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 84.0% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 181,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,951,000 after purchasing an additional 83,072 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,361 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $160,900,000 after buying an additional 92,772 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 825,916 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,619,000 after buying an additional 67,002 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth about $15,138,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 1,169.4% in the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 6,677 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $62.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $40.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.60 and a 200-day moving average of $55.55. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 23.83%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th were given a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 23,323 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total transaction of $1,453,722.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 81,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,055,523.97. The trade was a 22.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $858,112.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $968,730. The trade was a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.