Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Update

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,080,000 shares, a decrease of 20.4% from the February 28th total of 26,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,036,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $3,593,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 562.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 11,260 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 9,559 shares during the period. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 23,657 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 5.1 %

NYSE:DAL opened at $43.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.39. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company has a market capitalization of $28.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.26%.

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.