Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Price Target Raised to $100.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $100.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.34% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on DAL. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Delta Air Lines from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.47.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 3.6%

NYSE:DAL traded up $3.10 on Wednesday, hitting $89.82. The stock had a trading volume of 5,152,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,890,955. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $48.12 and a 1 year high of $90.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.57. The stock has a market cap of $59.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total transaction of $2,036,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at $7,738,836. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total transaction of $4,723,067.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,497.35. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at about $178,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $555,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 102.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,825 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 357,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.