Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK)

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 11,786 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 89% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,233 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,240,000. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 200.3% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 754,321 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,942,000 after purchasing an additional 503,167 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the third quarter worth approximately $4,194,000. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 4th quarter worth about $11,391,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,962,620 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 588,119 shares during the period. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alaska Air Group Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE ALK traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.65. 945,973 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,966,624. The firm has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.73 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.17. Alaska Air Group has a 12-month low of $33.03 and a 12-month high of $65.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The transportation company reported ($1.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.61) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 0.51%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.77) earnings per share. Alaska Air Group has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -1.000–1.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

About Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, that operates two main airlines—Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Through these carriers, the company offers scheduled passenger and cargo services across a network spanning the United States, Canada and Mexico. Its core business activities include domestic and international air transportation, loyalty program management under the Mileage Plan brand, and ancillary revenue streams such as baggage fees, in-flight sales and code-share partnerships with other global airlines.

The roots of Alaska Air Group trace back to the foundation of its flagship carrier, Alaska Airlines, in 1932.