Insider Selling: Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) EVP Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total value of $585,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,163 shares in the company, valued at $3,755,460.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded down $1.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,745,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,452,683. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.64. The company has a market capitalization of $36.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.76 and a fifty-two week high of $59.09.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 36.02% and a net margin of 7.46%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on DAL. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 742,773 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,725,000 after purchasing an additional 19,124 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.1% during the third quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,598 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.1% during the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,203 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 20.8% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 36,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,829,000 after purchasing an additional 6,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.