Insider Selling: Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) President Sells 39,900 Shares

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) President Peter Carter sold 39,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.98, for a total transaction of $3,709,902.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 424,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,488,977.92. This represents a 8.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE DAL traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.13. The company had a trading volume of 5,025,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,359,144. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.47. The company has a market capitalization of $61.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.31. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $52.88 and a one year high of $95.68.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The transportation company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 5.79%.The business had revenue of $17.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on DAL. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter worth about $178,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth about $555,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 102.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,825 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 357,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,859,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.