Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Receives “Buy” Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $83.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 29.55% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $64.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $35.28 and a 52-week high of $66.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,739,564.86. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,775,004.27. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other 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.