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

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 86,564 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 50% compared to the average volume of 57,809 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 414.4% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.06.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 2.9 %

DAL stock opened at $45.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.63. The company has a market cap of $29.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business had revenue of $12.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.64%.

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.