Delta Air Lines Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 80,015 call options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof35% compared to the typical volume of 59,086 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DAL. Barclays increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DAL. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 226,910 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 35,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 6,509 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth $2,540,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 82.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 270,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,289,000 after purchasing an additional 122,316 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 84.7% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 146,750 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,218,000 after purchasing an additional 67,305 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $59.02 on Friday. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.87%.

About Delta Air Lines

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.