LPL Financial LLC Sells 17,910 Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)

LPL Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,527 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 17,910 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in American Airlines Group were worth $4,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in American Airlines Group in the fourth quarter worth about $3,858,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter valued at $9,482,000. Amundi lifted its holdings 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 worth $7,510,000 after acquiring an additional 425,347 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in American Airlines Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $689,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in American Airlines Group by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,982 shares of the airline’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,830 shares during the last quarter. 52.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Airlines Group

In related news, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total transaction of $890,187.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,412 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,865.80. This represents a 31.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of American Airlines Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $16.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Melius Research upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Redburn Atlantic raised American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on American Airlines Group from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Airlines Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.95.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

AAL stock opened at $11.12 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.38. American Airlines Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.50 and a 12 month high of $19.10. The company has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.17.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts forecast that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

American Airlines Group Company 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.