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

Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 33.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,588 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 2,411 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 2,046.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 96,932 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,276,000 after purchasing an additional 92,416 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,160 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 113.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,310 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 9,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 416.3% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,499 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 24,592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Raymond James Financial set a $68.00 price objective on Alaska Air Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Zacks Research cut Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna set a $58.00 price target on Alaska Air Group and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kyle B. Levine sold 5,914 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.75, for a total value of $341,533.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,956.75. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 7,600 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $404,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,930 shares in the company, valued at $1,007,454.60. This represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,514 shares of company stock valued at $1,031,306 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of NYSE:ALK opened at $43.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.79 and a 12-month high of $78.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.40.

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

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.