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

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 83,514 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 53% compared to the typical volume of 54,630 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2,742.4% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 31,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after buying an additional 30,002 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at $950,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 7,748.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,962 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth $239,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 136.7% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 130,139 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,610,000 after buying an additional 75,165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas raised Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.23.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of DAL opened at $64.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.84 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. 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 fifty-two week low of $35.28 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $52.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.51.

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

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

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

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.