Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

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

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,225,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,798,656. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $31.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 414.4% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.