Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) CEO Sells $149,683.50 in Stock

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) CEO Joseph A. Sprague sold 2,325 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.38, for a total value of $149,683.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,340 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,109.20. The trade was a 10.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 4.1 %

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $64.97 on Friday. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.62 and a 52-week high of $65.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.62. The firm has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. Alaska Air Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,789,000 after purchasing an additional 357,907 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,969,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $119,960,000 after acquiring an additional 220,030 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,061,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $93,229,000 after acquiring an additional 78,186 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,593,756 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,590,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,239,000 after purchasing an additional 122,325 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ALK. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.86.

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.