Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) CEO Edward Bastian Sells 50,000 Shares of Company Stock

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) CEO Edward Bastian sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $4,100,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,313,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,702,736. The trade was a 3.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock traded down $1.57 on Friday, hitting $80.07. The company had a trading volume of 4,344,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,476,245. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.50 and a 200-day moving average of $76.66. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $95.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 9th. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.77 by ($0.05). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 16.83%. The business had revenue of $17.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. Delta Air Lines has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.150-1.650 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.600 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.2150 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.17%.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at about $1,182,646,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,033,595 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $268,153,000 after buying an additional 1,360,195 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the second quarter worth $160,265,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,469,652 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $97,702,000 after buying an additional 191,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 28.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,339,423 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $89,045,000 after purchasing an additional 300,288 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $106.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.65.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc is a major U.S. airline headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company provides scheduled passenger air transportation to destinations across the United States and international markets, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, Canada, Africa and the Caribbean. Delta operates through a network of hubs and focus cities, offering service under the Delta brand and through regional partners operating as Delta Connection.

In addition to passenger flights, Delta provides air cargo transportation and related logistics services.