Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 4,993 Shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 136,457 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 4,993 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Alaska Air Group worth $8,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALK. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 588 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 955 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 81.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,600 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total transaction of $503,448.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,030 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,595,808.40. The trade was a 16.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Muehlen Constance E. Von sold 22,157 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.12, for a total value of $1,664,433.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,504,353.12. This represents a 52.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,790 shares of company stock worth $2,169,537 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALK has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Alaska Air Group from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.92.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

ALK traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.84. The stock had a trading volume of 969,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,730,160. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.23. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.62 and a 12 month high of $78.08. The firm has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.41. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 40.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.92) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current 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.