New York State Teachers Retirement System Raises Stake in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 155,556 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,075 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of Alaska Air Group worth $6,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 416.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 215.8% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 255.5% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 775 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 456.1% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 912 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 63.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $41.27 on Friday. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.75 and a 1 year high of $57.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.02. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The transportation company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 14.72%. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $41.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Melius lowered shares of Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $249,340.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alaska Air Group 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.