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Delta Air Lines Insiders Sold US$11m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Simply Wall St · 4d ago

The fact that multiple Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

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Delta Air Lines Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Executive VP, Alain Bellemare, for US$2.5m worth of shares, at about US$56.32 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$69.06, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 26% of Alain Bellemare's holding.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 15.00k shares for US$601k. But they sold 179.98k shares for US$11m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Delta Air Lines shares, than buying. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

View our latest analysis for Delta Air Lines

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NYSE:DAL Insider Trading Volume January 5th 2026

I will like Delta Air Lines better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Delta Air Lines

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that Delta Air Lines insiders own 0.4% of the company, worth about US$171m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Delta Air Lines Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Delta Air Lines shares in the last quarter. It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Delta Air Lines insider transactions don't fill us with confidence. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. When we did our research, we found 2 warning signs for Delta Air Lines (1 is concerning!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.