Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

DAL has been the topic of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $67.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $37.29 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 106,893 shares of company stock valued at $7,407,783. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at about $338,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 130,630 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,635,000 after buying an additional 7,660 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $635,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 52.0% during the third quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,428 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo.