Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 470.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,434 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,540 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $2,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,209 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 70,065 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,482 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 2,438 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 56,442 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,205,000 after acquiring an additional 10,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in Alaska Air Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $707,000. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna upped their target price 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Alaska Air Group stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.29. The company had a trading volume of 164,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,404,501. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.75 and a 12-month high of $57.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 13.54%. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.62) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $249,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,048 shares in the company, valued at $999,201.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group 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.