Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 4,351,483 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 22% from the previous session’s volume of 3,567,275 shares.The stock last traded at $42.03 and had previously closed at $43.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings cut Alaska Air Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.40.

Alaska Air Group Trading Down 3.3%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.81 and a 200 day moving average of $50.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.69, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $3.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 7.22% and a net margin of 0.70%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Alaska Air Group has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -1.500–0.500 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.500-6.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.81, for a total value of $794,745.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,887.95. This trade represents a 41.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kyle B. Levine sold 2,945 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total transaction of $176,758.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,259,039.54. This represents a 12.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,945 shares of company stock worth $3,204,569. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 40.1% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 173,610 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,642,000 after purchasing an additional 49,663 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $594,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,192,000. Arista Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group during the third quarter worth about $417,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group during the third quarter worth about $979,000. Institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Company Profile

Alaska Air Group is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, that operates two main airlines—Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Through these carriers, the company offers scheduled passenger and cargo services across a network spanning the United States, Canada and Mexico. Its core business activities include domestic and international air transportation, loyalty program management under the Mileage Plan brand, and ancillary revenue streams such as baggage fees, in-flight sales and code-share partnerships with other global airlines.

The roots of Alaska Air Group trace back to the foundation of its flagship carrier, Alaska Airlines, in 1932.