Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) CEO Sells 206,510 Shares of Stock

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) CEO Edward Bastian sold 206,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.80, for a total transaction of $19,164,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,363,448 shares in the company, valued at $126,527,974.40. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded up $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.13. 5,025,014 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,359,144. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.88 and a 52-week high of $95.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.87 and a 200 day moving average of $74.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $61.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The transportation company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $17.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.43 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 5.79%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 14.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.40.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 195.9% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 358 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 451.6% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.