Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price target upped by TD Cowen from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays upped their target price on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Melius Research raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

ALK opened at $62.59 on Wednesday. Alaska Air Group has a twelve month low of $32.62 and a twelve month high of $65.62. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.01.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Muehlen Constance E. Von sold 4,000 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $252,360.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.56, for a total transaction of $317,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,739,128.72. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,580 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,569 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth approximately $227,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 13.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,403 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 4.7% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,029 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group during the second quarter worth about $773,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 13.0% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.