Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Alaska Air Group's stock price gapped up from $63.86 to $65.80 following an upgrade from UBS Group, which raised its price target from $56.00 to $90.00.
• Thirteen equities research analysts currently have a Buy rating on Alaska Air Group, with an average price target of $71.15.
• Insider selling occurred with CFO Shane R. Tackett and SVP Kyle B. Levine, collectively selling a total of approximately $626,833 in shares, indicating a decline in their ownership positions.

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after UBS Group upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $63.86, but opened at $65.80. UBS Group now has a $90.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $56.00. Alaska Air Group shares last traded at $65.11, with a volume of 385,960 shares traded.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ALK. Raymond James Financial raised Alaska Air Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $73.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $71.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total value of $285,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 43,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,472,695.10. The trade was a 10.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kyle B. Levine sold 5,914 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.75, for a total value of $341,533.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 20,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,207,956.75. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,514 shares of company stock worth $1,031,306. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALK. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 249.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,638,464 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $129,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,598 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 134.0% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,134,221 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $138,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222,277 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 13,557.0% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 625,764 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $30,963,000 after purchasing an additional 621,182 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 2,880.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 624,035 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $30,877,000 after purchasing an additional 603,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 78.4% during the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,009,317 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,941,000 after purchasing an additional 443,572 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company's stock.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.84. The firm has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.45.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.65 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 2.33%.Alaska Air Group's revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. Alaska Air Group has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.400 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 3.250- EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.