Delta Air Lines Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 102,369 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 74% compared to the average daily volume of 58,672 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DAL. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,911,295.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Willie Cw Chiang acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $49.50 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 174,073 shares of company stock valued at $8,581,207 over the last 90 days. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $842,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,053 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,981,124 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $602,691,000 after purchasing an additional 79,818 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,839,122 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $401,048,000 after purchasing an additional 865,746 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 220.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,600,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $346,008,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,374,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $336,908,000 after purchasing an additional 826,232 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.0 %

DAL stock opened at $51.55 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.72. Delta Air Lines has a 12 month low of $30.60 and a 12 month high of $51.65. The company has a market cap of $32.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.14%.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

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.