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

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 63,123 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 29% compared to the average volume of 49,048 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 414.4% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $42.38 on Wednesday. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.95, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.36. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. TD Cowen increased 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.29.

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.