Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,678 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,387 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Airlines Group were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 33,706 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $587,000 after buying an additional 15,653 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of American Airlines Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,047,000. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in shares of American Airlines Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $404,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 165,528 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,885,000 after buying an additional 34,670 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 31,647.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 426,691 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,510,000 after buying an additional 425,347 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total transaction of $890,187.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,865.80. This represents a 31.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $1,763,009.61. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares in the company, valued at $51,079,004.64. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on American Airlines Group to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna cut their target price on American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn raised American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.37.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

American Airlines Group stock opened at $10.87 on Friday. American Airlines Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.07 and a 12 month high of $19.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.27.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.47. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 28.56% and a net margin of 1.56%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

American Airlines Group Profile

American Airlines Group Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a network air carrier. The company provides scheduled air transportation services for passengers and cargo through its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, DC, as well as through partner gateways in London, Doha, Madrid, Seattle/Tacoma, Sydney, and Tokyo.