Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) EVP Sells $1,500,177.75 in Stock

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) EVP Alain Bellemare sold 20,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.75, for a total value of $1,500,177.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,731,818.75. This represents a 14.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Alain Bellemare also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 9th, Alain Bellemare sold 35,212 shares of Delta Air Lines stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total transaction of $2,647,942.40.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DAL traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $73.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,064,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,729,001. The stock has a market cap of $48.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $45.28 and a one year high of $76.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.29.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 10.93%.

Key Headlines Impacting Delta Air Lines

Here are the key news stories impacting Delta Air Lines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Delta Air Lines to $95 and reiterated a bullish view on the company’s premium-cabin strategy, suggesting stronger earnings potential and improved pricing power ahead. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Delta continues to trade higher since its last earnings report, reflecting investor confidence that recent results and future estimates remain solid. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broader airline conditions may be helping sentiment, as Spirit Airlines’ liquidation has pushed fares sharply higher on some routes, which could support industry pricing for larger carriers like Delta. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market articles also note that airlines are dealing with very high jet fuel costs tied to Middle East disruption, which could pressure margins even as carriers adjust routes and fares. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A court ruling against deceptive fee practices could affect parts of the airline industry, but the articles do not clearly indicate a direct near-term impact on Delta’s results. Article Title

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,211,101 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,680,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,265 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,163,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,607,557,000 after purchasing an additional 165,729 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,413,841 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,215,766,000 after purchasing an additional 202,865 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 137.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,811,787 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $958,538,000 after buying an additional 7,994,004 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,310,804 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $854,370,000 after buying an additional 56,455 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.47.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.