The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Price Target to $60.00

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its target price lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $83.00 to $60.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.77.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 2.3 %

DAL opened at $43.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.26. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at $766,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.3% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,420 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $322,000. CWC Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 15,317 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $660,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.