Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) EVP Sells $1,241,367.60 in Stock

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,479,212.12. The trade was a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $68.14 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $64.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after buying an additional 24,249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

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.