New York State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stock Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of Alaska Air Group worth $5,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 43.1% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 56,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,770,000 after acquiring an additional 16,960 shares during the period. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth $76,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth $128,000. swisspartners Advisors Ltd raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. swisspartners Advisors Ltd now owns 142,540 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971 shares during the period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 1st quarter valued at $6,031,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total value of $401,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,419,620.30. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Emily Halverson sold 2,946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.34, for a total transaction of $151,247.64. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $423,709.02. The trade was a 26.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,479 shares of company stock valued at $554,228. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK opened at $51.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.33. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.41. Alaska Air Group, Inc. 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 1.05, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.05). Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 2.86%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.92) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Alaska Air Group from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group lowered shares of Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $95.00 to $55.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Alaska Air Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.83.

About Alaska Air Group

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.