Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. $ALK

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 16.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,197 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 10,426 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $2,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALK. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 1.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,266,619 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $161,632,000 after buying an additional 42,454 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 249.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,638,464 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882,598 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 3.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,215,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $109,657,000 after acquiring an additional 77,531 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 1,099,190 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $54,388,000 after acquiring an additional 74,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,062,712 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $52,307,000 after acquiring an additional 285,382 shares during the period. 81.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALK. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $65.00 price objective on Alaska Air Group in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $73.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.42.

Alaska Air Group Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of ALK stock opened at $49.26 on Tuesday. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.63 and a fifty-two week high of $78.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.72, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 8.93%. Alaska Air Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 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.