Wellington Management Group LLP Invests $26.39 Million in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 583,716 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,390,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALK. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 2,087.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 762,889 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,490,000 after acquiring an additional 728,019 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,422,247 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,300,000 after acquiring an additional 442,331 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,789,000 after acquiring an additional 357,907 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter worth $11,475,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,084,639 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,037,000 after purchasing an additional 265,343 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ALK. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $62.59 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.01. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.62 and a twelve month high of $65.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Insider Transactions at Alaska Air Group

In related news, COO Muehlen Constance E. Von sold 4,000 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $252,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $767,300.58. The trade was a 24.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 13,880 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total transaction of $888,458.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,321,038.38. This represents a 40.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,580 shares of company stock worth $1,693,569 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.