Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

DAL has been the topic of several other research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. HSBC raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $69.20 to $73.70 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.68.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of DAL stock opened at $64.31 on Friday. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.78.

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

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 23,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total transaction of $1,453,722.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 81,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,055,523.97. This trade represents a 22.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $968,730. This represents a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 84.0% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 181,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,951,000 after purchasing an additional 83,072 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,361 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $160,900,000 after buying an additional 92,772 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 825,916 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,619,000 after buying an additional 67,002 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,138,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,169.4% in the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 6,677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.