UBS Group Cuts Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target to $75.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price objective lowered by UBS Group from $87.00 to $75.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Susquehanna raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $52.80 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.77. Alaska Air Group has a 1-year low of $32.62 and a 1-year high of $78.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.50.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.52. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 14.66%. On average, analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,600 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total value of $503,448.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,595,808.40. The trade was a 16.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 1,830 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.32, for a total transaction of $134,175.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,487,369.52. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 154,725 shares of company stock worth $11,217,263. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter worth about $811,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 5,003 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter worth about $3,938,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.