Insider Selling: Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) EVP Sells $395,000.00 in Stock

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) EVP Allison Ausband sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total transaction of $395,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 133,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,574,466. The trade was a 3.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $82.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.28 and a twelve month high of $83.83. The stock has a market cap of $54.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.15 and its 200 day moving average is $67.99.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.22.

Delta Air Lines News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target on Delta Air Lines from $84 to $92 and reiterated a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for further upside in the shares. TD Cowen price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Airline stocks are benefiting from strong travel demand and a more favorable fuel-cost backdrop as oil prices have eased from recent highs, which can help Delta’s margins. Air travel demand and airfare article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent market coverage highlighted that Delta shares have been supported by analyst upgrades and higher price targets, reflecting improving confidence in the company’s earnings outlook. Delta stock is up article
• Neutral Sentiment: Delta’s CEO defended the carrier’s choice of Amazon’s in-flight Wi-Fi service over SpaceX Starlink, a strategic decision that may matter competitively but is not an immediate financial catalyst. Delta Wi-Fi strategy article
• Negative Sentiment: Two recent insider sales by Delta executives, including EVP Allison Ausband and EVP Alain Bellemare, may modestly pressure sentiment even though insider selling is not always a fundamental red flag. Ausband SEC filing Bellemare SEC filing

About Delta Air Lines

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.