Delta Air Lines Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 83,514 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 53% compared to the average daily volume of 54,630 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DAL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total transaction of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.6 %

Delta Air Lines stock traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.46. 8,428,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,406,377. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $34.87 and a fifty-two week high of $65.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 8.33%.

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.