Traders Buy High Volume of Delta Air Lines Call Options (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 63,584 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 37% compared to the average daily volume of 46,392 call options.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 5.6 %

DAL stock opened at $50.28 on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.95.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. The trade was a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in 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 worth $13,644,000 after buying an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,036,000. New Millennium Group LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 314.0% in the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 36,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 27,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.