Vestcor Inc Takes $428,000 Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,701 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,235,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 416.3% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,499 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,501,000 after buying an additional 24,592 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,160 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,238,000 after buying an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 971,938 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $47,839,000 after buying an additional 79,099 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALK. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $95.00 to $55.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.42.

Alaska Air Group Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of ALK opened at $51.40 on Monday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $50.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.36. The company has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.62 and a 1-year high of $78.08.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 12.62%. Alaska Air Group's quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 7,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $404,472.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,007,454.60. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Emily Halverson sold 2,946 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.34, for a total value of $151,247.64. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $423,709.02. This represents a 26.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,079 shares of company stock worth $958,700 over the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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