Delta Air Lines Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 63,123 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 29% compared to the typical daily volume of 49,048 call options.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $43.62 on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $37.29 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.20 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,380,820,000 after purchasing an additional 456,465 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,800,754,000 after buying an additional 1,922,932 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $968,234,000 after buying an additional 410,648 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $918,419,000 after buying an additional 46,101 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $670,994,000 after acquiring an additional 92,208 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.