Edward H. Bastian Sells 35,000 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Stock

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $55.62. 6,536,568 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,785,488. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.49. 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 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $50.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.20.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The company's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 8.70%.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,555 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 4,860 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 52,725 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,190,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, JT Stratford LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 16,403 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. HSBC increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.21.

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.