Brighton Jones LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 178,466 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Alaska Air Group worth $7,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Washington CORP increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 11.5% during the second quarter. First Washington CORP now owns 146,062 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 15,110 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 12.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 27,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $262,789,000 after acquiring an additional 357,907 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,015,000. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,833,000. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup cut 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Alaska Air Group Stock Down 0.5 %

ALK opened at $39.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.68. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.75 and a fifty-two week high of $46.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.07 and its 200 day moving average is $39.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.59.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.19. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.17 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.