Captrust Financial Advisors Makes New $395,000 Investment in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 8,734 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group during the first quarter worth about $227,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $773,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew 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 during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Alaska Air Group by 22.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,318 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alaska Air Group

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 13,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total transaction of $888,458.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,638 shares in the company, valued at $1,321,038.38. The trade was a 40.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $234,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,338,961. This trade represents a 14.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,580 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,569. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ALK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK opened at $62.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $50.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.01. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.62 and a 1-year high of $65.62.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued 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 net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.