StockNews.com Downgrades Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) to Hold

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

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

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE DAL traded down $0.21 on Tuesday, reaching $48.67. The stock had a trading volume of 8,225,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,798,656. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $31.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 414.4% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.