Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,350 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,572,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,667,479,000 after buying an additional 1,648,071 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,059,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,134,083,000 after buying an additional 581,421 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,757,932 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $822,127,000 after acquiring an additional 527,570 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,661,911 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $434,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,012,856 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $295,712,000 after acquiring an additional 48,974 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Delta Air Lines

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

• Positive Sentiment: Citi Research put Delta on a 30-day “positive catalyst” watch, which suggests potential near-term upside if catalysts materialize. Citi positive catalyst watch
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive in places: Citi’s John Godyn reiterated a Buy on Delta citing resilient earnings, refinery exposure and trans‑Atlantic pricing upside — supportive evidence for medium-term earnings upside. TipRanks article
• Positive Sentiment: Some bulls still see large upside — coverage highlights a Wall Street call that models roughly 50% upside this year versus current levels, keeping a possible recovery scenario on the table. 24/7 Wall St piece
• Neutral Sentiment: Delta will present at the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference on March 17 — a near-term event that could provide fresh guidance detail or reassure investors. J.P. Morgan presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage examining whether Delta is now attractively valued notes recent weakness but also longer‑term gains; this frames the stock as a value/turnaround debate. Valuation analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts point out Delta has underperformed broader indices recently even as consensus targets remain well above the current price, creating scope for both downside and rebound. Barchart analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies cut its price target to $72 from $84 (still a Buy) — a meaningful reduction in upside expectations that likely dampened investor sentiment. Jefferies PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn trimmed its target to $70 from $72 while keeping a Buy — another downward tweak to street targets. Rothschild target cut
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen downgraded Delta from “strong-buy” to “hold,” reducing conviction among buy‑side investors and potentially lowering demand for shares. TD Cowen downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market weakness — a large index selloff tied to an oil price surge — is pressuring cyclical airline stocks today and likely amplified Delta’s decline. Market selloff coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/airspace risk: Middle East disruptions and flight cancellations in the region remain a downside operational risk for airlines. Middle East flight cancellations

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 62,528 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total value of $4,388,215.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,469,499.02. This trade represents a 74.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 35,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total value of $2,647,942.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 138,176 shares in the company, valued at $10,390,835.20. This represents a 20.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 620,550 shares of company stock valued at $44,127,667. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 2.2%

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $57.86 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $76.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.08. The company has a market capitalization of $37.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 13th. The transportation company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.02. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.96%. The company had revenue of $14.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Delta Air Lines has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.900 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.500-7.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Dbs Bank raised Delta Air Lines to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Argus set a $80.00 target price on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.43.

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.