Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Given “Buy” Rating at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group restated their buy rating on shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a $83.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.2 %

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,852,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,398,935. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $35.28 and a 1 year high of $66.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.34 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $24,775,004.27. The trade was a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,499,635.40. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after buying an additional 749,099 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after purchasing an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,030,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $719,526,000 after purchasing an additional 49,712 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $281,206,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.