Analysts Set Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Price Target at $77.00

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.00.

ALK has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Susquehanna raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $50.16 on Tuesday. Alaska Air Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.62 and a fifty-two week high of $78.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alaska Air Group news, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 1,830 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.32, for a total value of $134,175.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,487,369.52. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joseph A. Sprague sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total value of $654,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,840 shares in the company, valued at $677,976. The trade was a 49.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 154,725 shares of company stock valued at $11,217,263. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,651,876 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $883,959,000 after purchasing an additional 56,409 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,225,054 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $403,076,000 after buying an additional 56,740 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 328.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,649,388 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $301,048,000 after buying an additional 3,564,749 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,460,959 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $224,121,000 after acquiring an additional 222,780 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 134.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,134,221 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $138,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222,277 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Company Profile

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.