Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock Price Down 3.8% – Should You Sell?

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) traded down 3.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $61.66 and last traded at $62.26. 2,234,651 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 9,356,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DAL shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $72.75.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $40.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,635.40. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.