Freedom Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Alaska Air Group, Inc. $ALK

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 33.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,588 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,411 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 632 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $76,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $92,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the period. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total value of $285,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,472,695.10. The trade was a 10.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kyle B. Levine sold 5,914 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.75, for a total value of $341,533.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 20,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,956.75. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,514 shares of company stock worth $1,031,306. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ALK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $73.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna set a $58.00 price objective on Alaska Air Group and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.62.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK opened at $43.77 on Friday. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.79 and a twelve month high of $78.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.87.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.06). Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. Alaska Air Group’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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.