Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Shares Sold by Capital Analysts LLC

Capital Analysts LLC trimmed its stake in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Free Report) by 98.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 647 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 42,095 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC's holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,461,295 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $536,225,000 after purchasing an additional 47,871 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 9.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,951,500 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $422,861,000 after purchasing an additional 660,917 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 2.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,105,350 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $218,323,000 after purchasing an additional 91,940 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 18.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,447,347 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $127,828,000 after purchasing an additional 537,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,425,916 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $147,109,000 after purchasing an additional 556,766 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Melius downgraded Alaska Air Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Alaska Air Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Alaska Air Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

ALK traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $45.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,135,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,436,116. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.23. The company has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.63. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.75 and a 1 year high of $57.18.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.17. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.62) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alaska Air Group Company 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.