Boston Partners Grows Stock Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,460,959 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 222,780 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 2.73% of Alaska Air Group worth $224,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,816 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 588 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,284 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 19,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Plan Group Financial LLC raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 8,136 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on ALK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other news, CEO Joseph A. Sprague sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total value of $654,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,976. This represents a 49.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.89, for a total transaction of $51,112.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,296,072.54. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,525 shares of company stock worth $11,268,375 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

NYSE ALK opened at $52.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.62 and a 1 year high of $78.08. The company has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.82.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alaska Air Group 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.