Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Lowered to $81.00 at Citigroup

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its target price dropped by Citigroup from $83.00 to $81.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 53.79% from the stock’s current price.

ALK has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Susquehanna raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.54.

Alaska Air Group Stock Down 4.5 %

NYSE ALK traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.67. 520,492 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,351,815. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.71. Alaska Air Group has a 1-year low of $32.62 and a 1-year high of $78.08. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.50. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.52. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 14.66%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 91,745 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.14, for a total value of $6,526,739.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,468,187.32. This trade represents a 81.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 22,893 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.74, for a total transaction of $1,733,915.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,061.02. This trade represents a 41.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,179 shares of company stock valued at $11,503,659 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 328.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,649,388 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $301,048,000 after buying an additional 3,564,749 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,459,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 134.0% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,134,221 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $138,191,000 after buying an additional 1,222,277 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 4,615.3% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 943,064 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,063,000 after buying an additional 923,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candlestick Capital Management LP bought a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

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.