GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 681 Shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 24.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,462 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 681 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,084,639 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,037,000 after purchasing an additional 265,343 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 54.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 57,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after buying an additional 20,347 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 358.9% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 27,428 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after buying an additional 21,451 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 156.3% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 83,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,788,000 after buying an additional 51,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 633,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,312,000 after buying an additional 24,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALK. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup increased 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. Susquehanna upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.14.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of ALK stock opened at $65.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.35 and a 200-day moving average of $45.90. 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 one year low of $32.62 and a one year high of $67.73.

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

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In other news, VP Emily Halverson sold 1,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $85,600.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,150 shares in the company, valued at $460,531.50. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 13,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total transaction of $888,458.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,321,038.38. This represents a 40.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,473 shares of company stock worth $2,198,342 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

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.