Ellis Investment Partners LLC Has $1.97 Million Holdings in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,974 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,366 shares during the quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $1,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,651,876 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $883,959,000 after buying an additional 56,409 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,225,054 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $403,076,000 after buying an additional 56,740 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 328.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,649,388 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $301,048,000 after buying an additional 3,564,749 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,460,959 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $224,121,000 after buying an additional 222,780 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 134.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,134,221 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $138,191,000 after buying an additional 1,222,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ALK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on Alaska Air Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Susquehanna cut their price target on 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 boosted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $75.00 to $54.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.83.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

NYSE:ALK opened at $46.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.08. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.44. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.62 and a 52-week high of $78.08.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alaska Air Group news, VP Emily Halverson sold 2,946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 now owns 8,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,709.02. The trade was a 26.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 7,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,620.30. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,479 shares of company stock valued at $554,228 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alaska Air Group 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.