Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) CEO Sells $654,550.00 in Stock

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) CEO Joseph A. Sprague sold 9,500 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at $677,976. This represents a 49.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Alaska Air Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ALK traded up $0.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $70.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,985,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,974,473. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.62 and a 12 month high of $71.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $62.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.54.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.52. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 3.37%. On average, research analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 1,045,102 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $67,670,000 after purchasing an additional 80,442 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,283 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 104,465 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,764,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $255,000. Institutional investors own 81.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ALK. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Alaska Air Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.86.

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.

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