Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) CEO Sells $6,405,943.50 in Stock

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $67.41. 8,112,030 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,360,375. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $63.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.29 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,551,000 after purchasing an additional 453,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,452,000 after buying an additional 416,338 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.