First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 102,331 Shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK – Get Rating) by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 318,847 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 102,331 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $12,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALK. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the first quarter worth approximately $62,390,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 41.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,871,802 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $112,432,000 after purchasing an additional 839,832 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 110.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,560,880 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,453,000 after purchasing an additional 819,223 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 165.4% in the third quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,235,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $48,360,000 after purchasing an additional 769,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the first quarter valued at $25,374,000. 77.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ALK shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Friday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $57.50 to $58.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.05.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

ALK stock opened at $46.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.19 and a 12 month high of $61.55. The firm has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.71.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In related news, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 1,596 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.81, for a total transaction of $81,092.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,105.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Alaska Air Group

(Get Rating)

Alaska Air Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of air transportation services. It operates through the following segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The Mainline segment includes scheduled air transportation on Alaska’s Boeing and Airbus jet aircraft for passengers and cargo throughout the U.S., and in parts of Mexico, Costa Rica and Belize.