Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Price Target Raised to $74.00

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

DAL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.53.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $59.70 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.07. The firm has a market cap of $38.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 23.83%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 10.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $858,112.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $968,730. This represents a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,510 shares of company stock worth $2,979,663 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,493 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,871 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,844 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 16,403 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.9% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,578 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Delta Air Lines

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.