Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Sells 2,131 Shares of Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. decreased its holdings in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 81,355 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,131 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Air Lease were worth $3,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AL. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 104.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 43,981 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 18,203 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 4,708 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 13,847 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Air Lease by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after buying an additional 5,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC boosted its stake in Air Lease by 230.0% during the fourth quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 66,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,182,000 after buying an additional 46,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AL has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Air Lease from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Air Lease from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup upgraded Air Lease from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America downgraded Air Lease from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on Air Lease in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.43.

Insider Transactions at Air Lease

In other news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.85, for a total value of $568,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 146,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,318,064.60. This represents a 6.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AL stock opened at $58.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.74. Air Lease Co. has a 1 year low of $38.25 and a 1 year high of $59.27. The company has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The transportation company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.27. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 15.65%. The firm had revenue of $738.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Air Lease Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Air Lease’s payout ratio is 15.38%.

About Air Lease

Air Lease Corporation, an aircraft leasing company, engages in the purchase and leasing of commercial jet aircraft to airlines worldwide. It sells aircraft from its fleet to third parties, including other leasing companies, financial services companies, airlines, and other investors. The company provides fleet management services to investors and owners of aircraft portfolios.