Retirement Systems of Alabama Takes $5.07 Million Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 112,064 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,066,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALK. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 2,087.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 762,889 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,490,000 after buying an additional 728,019 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group in the third quarter worth about $26,390,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 45.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,422,247 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,300,000 after purchasing an additional 442,331 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $262,789,000 after purchasing an additional 357,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,475,000. 81.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Melius raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.86.

Alaska Air Group Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Alaska Air Group stock opened at $62.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.62 and a 1-year high of $65.62. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.47. The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 13,880 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $888,458.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,321,038.38. The trade was a 40.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $234,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,338,961. This represents a 14.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,019 shares of company stock worth $1,911,945 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.