American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $18.66, but opened at $17.30. American Airlines Group shares last traded at $17.03, with a volume of 31,415,288 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAL shares. Bank of America upgraded American Airlines Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $20.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of American Airlines Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Airlines Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.99.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.23. The stock has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 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 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 18.62%. On average, analysts forecast that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of American Airlines Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Airlines Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Airlines Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $723,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 95.3% in the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 193,854 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 94,573 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 14.7% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,199,121 shares of the airline’s stock worth $13,586,000 after acquiring an additional 153,515 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 9,088,188 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $102,151,000 after purchasing an additional 508,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP raised its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 199.9% during the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 149,304 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 99,513 shares during the period. 52.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Airlines Group Company Profile

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.