Greenleaf Trust Buys New Shares in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Greenleaf Trust bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 215.8% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 761 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 255.5% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 775 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 456.1% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 912 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 63.4% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Alaska Air Group during the third quarter worth about $69,000. Institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of Alaska Air Group stock opened at $44.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.43. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.75 and a fifty-two week high of $57.18.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $0.17. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.62) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $249,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $51.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.85.

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.