Delta Air Lines Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 51,609 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 82% compared to the average volume of 28,314 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Argus set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $112.00 price target on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 3,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.11, for a total transaction of $291,741.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,525 shares in the company, valued at $3,060,927.75. This represents a 8.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 206,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,363,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,527,974.40. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 356,726 shares of company stock valued at $33,081,037 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Advus Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth about $226,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,829,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8,578.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,516,676 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,734,272,000 after buying an additional 18,303,318 shares in the last quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $838,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $80.27. The company had a trading volume of 2,172,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,844,018. The company has a market capitalization of $52.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.31. Delta Air Lines has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $95.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $87.81 and its 200-day moving average is $76.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its 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. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The firm had revenue of $17.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.23 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 14.26%.

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.