Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) CFO Sells $1,733,915.82 in Stock

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 22,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.74, for a total transaction of $1,733,915.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,061.02. This represents a 41.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Alaska Air Group Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE ALK traded down $2.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.82. The stock had a trading volume of 2,208,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,837,390. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.62 and a twelve month high of $76.45. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.55.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.52. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 14.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 32.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,084,639 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,037,000 after buying an additional 265,343 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 57,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after acquiring an additional 20,347 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 4th quarter valued at $772,000. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 358.9% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 27,428 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 21,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 156.3% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 83,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,788,000 after purchasing an additional 51,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

About Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates airlines. It operates through three segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The company offers scheduled air transportation services on Boeing jet aircraft for passengers and cargo in the United States, and in parts of Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, and the Bahamas; and for passengers across a shorter distance network within the United States, Canada, and Mexico.