VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Alaska Air Group, Inc. $ALK

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 19,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALK. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group in the second quarter valued at about $606,307,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 2.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,348,163 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $233,463,000 after purchasing an additional 145,484 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter worth $168,467,000. U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 728,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,200,000 after buying an additional 88,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,776,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALK. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Alaska Air Group from $92.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Benito Minicucci purchased 25,000 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $40.06 per share, with a total value of $1,001,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 256,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,278,674.92. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $38.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.02 and a beta of 1.43. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.33 and a 12 month high of $60.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.83 and its 200-day moving average is $43.92.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). Alaska Air Group had a negative net margin of 2.58% and a negative return on equity of 5.42%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post -4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Alaska Air Group Company Profile

Alaska Air Group, Inc is an airline holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Its principal subsidiaries include Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, which operate under separate brands while serving passengers throughout North America, the Pacific and other international markets.

Alaska Airlines provides scheduled passenger and air cargo services across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica and the Bahamas, with a strong presence on the U.S. West Coast and in Alaska.