Investors Purchase High Volume of Delta Air Lines Call Options (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 74,406 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 64% compared to the average volume of 45,462 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. This represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Senator Investment Group LP boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after buying an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after buying an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 24,249 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $59.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $36.34 and a 1-year high of $67.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

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.