Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) EVP Alain Bellemare Sells 45,423 Shares

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded down $1.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.14. 4,907,187 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,892,319. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.49. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $49.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.58.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth $386,364,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $328,398,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $189,081,000 after purchasing an additional 4,255,262 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 149.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $246,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,577,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 347.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $184,909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

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.