Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Delta Air Lines has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating positive analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Numerous analysts have raised their target prices for Delta, with a consensus target price now set at $69.89.
• The company's recent stock trades include significant insider selling, with executives offloading shares while maintaining a relatively low insider ownership of 0.88%.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on DAL. Susquehanna Bancshares raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nineteen have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.89.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $57.56 on Friday. Delta Air Lines has a 12-month low of $34.74 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The company has a market cap of $37.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.53.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 7.36%. Research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $151,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,017,971.50. This represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 91,050 shares of company stock worth $5,139,795. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,572,577 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,667,479,000 after buying an additional 1,648,071 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,059,848 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,134,083,000 after buying an additional 581,421 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,757,932 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $822,127,000 after buying an additional 527,570 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at approximately $386,364,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 30.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,242,852 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $315,788,000 after buying an additional 1,681,464 shares during 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.