Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK)

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 6,142 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 111% compared to the average volume of 2,916 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $249,340.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,461,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $536,225,000 after purchasing an additional 47,871 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,951,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $422,861,000 after acquiring an additional 660,917 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,439,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $212,543,000 after acquiring an additional 660,455 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,105,350 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $218,323,000 after acquiring an additional 91,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $148,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,311 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

ALK opened at $45.02 on Friday. Alaska Air Group has a 12-month low of $30.75 and a 12-month high of $57.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.22.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.62) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ALK shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Melius cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.85.

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.