Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Shares Purchased by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Free Report) by 4,615.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 943,064 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 923,064 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.74% of Alaska Air Group worth $61,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 328.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,649,388 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $301,048,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564,749 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group in the fourth quarter worth $82,459,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group in the fourth quarter worth $24,241,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group in the fourth quarter worth $19,847,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,460,959 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $224,121,000 after buying an additional 222,780 shares during the period. 81.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alaska Air Group news, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 22,893 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.74, for a total transaction of $1,733,915.82. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,414,061.02. The trade was a 41.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total value of $503,448.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,030 shares in the company, valued at $2,595,808.40. This trade represents a 16.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,480 shares of company stock worth $4,035,973. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALK has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group downgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned 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 $65.92.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

NYSE:ALK traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.73. 1,416,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,648,830. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $53.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.04. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.62 and a 52-week high of $78.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.19 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business's revenue was up 40.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.92) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.