Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock Price Down 4.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) traded down 4.7% during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $77.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Delta Air Lines traded as low as $45.21 and last traded at $44.50. 2,206,379 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 8,649,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.68.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $1,241,367.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. This represents a 33.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 3.0 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.89 and a 200 day moving average of $57.90. The firm has a market cap of $29.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

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.