Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 88.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 87,424 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 675,465 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $5,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALK. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 32.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,084,639 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,037,000 after buying an additional 265,343 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in 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. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the fourth quarter valued at $772,000. Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in 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. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alaska Air Group

In related news, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $234,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,338,961. This represents a 14.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.56, for a total value of $317,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,739,128.72. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,473 shares of company stock valued at $2,198,342 in the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALK has been the subject of several research reports. Melius Research raised Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.57.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

NYSE ALK opened at $66.35 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.62 and a 12-month high of $69.10.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 2.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.37 EPS 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.