Bailard Inc. Grows Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Bailard Inc. increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,449 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALK. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 44.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,906 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 46.8% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 22,236 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 7,094 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 16.7% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 19,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 280.0% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,548 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 49,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 2.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 62,337 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALK. UBS Group began coverage on Alaska Air Group in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK opened at $43.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.54. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.75 and a 1-year high of $57.18. The company has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.63.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.17. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.62) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $249,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares in the company, valued at $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.68% 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.