Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $79.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its target price boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $70.00 to $79.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

ALK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Melius upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.79.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

ALK stock opened at $67.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Alaska Air Group has a 1 year low of $32.62 and a 1 year high of $69.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.86 and a 200 day moving average of $46.62. The company has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.54.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 2.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, VP Emily Halverson sold 1,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $85,600.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,531.50. The trade was a 15.67 % 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, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $234,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,338,961. The trade was a 14.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,473 shares of company stock worth $2,198,342 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALK. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $281,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,789,000 after purchasing an additional 357,907 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 12.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 27,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. First Washington CORP raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Washington CORP now owns 146,062 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 15,110 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 178,466 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,210,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Alaska Air Group

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.