Delta Air Lines Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 80,015 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately35% compared to the average daily volume of 59,086 call options.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 184.6% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 572 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 2,280.8% during the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 619 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 414.4% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $59.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $38.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.25 and its 200-day moving average is $51.39. Delta Air Lines has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DAL. HSBC lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.21.

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.