Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Invests $59,000 in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alaska Air Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,180 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Coastwise Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 6.0% in the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 5,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, COO Muehlen Constance E. Von sold 4,000 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $252,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $767,300.58. The trade was a 24.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Emily Halverson sold 1,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $85,600.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,531.50. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,473 shares of company stock worth $2,198,342 over the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.86.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

NYSE ALK opened at $66.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.79. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.62 and a 52-week high of $66.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. 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 (NYSE:ALK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.