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

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 83,514 call options on the company. This is an increase of 53% compared to the typical daily volume of 54,630 call options.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total value of $470,276.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,130.14. This trade represents a 11.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.6 %

DAL opened at $64.84 on Friday. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $35.28 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $52.17 and its 200 day moving average is $48.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.84 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 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 the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $70.23.

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.