Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) CEO Edward H. Bastian Sells 68,000 Shares

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $58.49 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.64. The stock has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $30.76 and a one year high of $59.07.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 36.02% and a net margin of 7.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $65.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Senator Investment Group LP raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% in the second quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 50,358 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 714.1% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 112,048 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,364,000 after acquiring an additional 98,285 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at about $907,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at about $1,309,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.