ING Groep NV Takes $3.85 Million Position in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)

ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 221,100 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $3,854,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. acquired a new position in American Airlines Group during the 4th quarter worth $3,035,000. Meitav Investment House Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,366,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 164,700 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter valued at $502,000. Finally, SilverOak Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Airlines Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Airlines Group

In other American Airlines Group news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $1,763,009.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,967,984 shares in the company, valued at $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of American Airlines Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total transaction of $890,187.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,865.80. This trade represents a 31.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius Research upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Melius raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $12.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.88.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

Shares of AAL opened at $15.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.09. American Airlines Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.07 and a twelve month high of $19.10. The firm has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.35.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.47. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 28.56%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About American Airlines Group

American Airlines Group Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a network air carrier. The company provides scheduled air transportation services for passengers and cargo through its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, DC, as well as through partner gateways in London, Doha, Madrid, Seattle/Tacoma, Sydney, and Tokyo.