AlphaQuest LLC Acquires Shares of 8,580 Air Lease Corporation $AL

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,580 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Air Lease by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 50,569 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after buying an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 1,675.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 204,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,855,000 after acquiring an additional 192,508 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Air Lease by 493.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,884 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 7,387 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Air Lease by 5.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 326,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,784,000 after acquiring an additional 15,629 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Air Lease by 16.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 298,275 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,410,000 after purchasing an additional 41,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Air Lease from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Air Lease in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Air Lease in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In other Air Lease news, EVP Grant A. Levy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $64,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,822,345.80. This represents a 0.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven F. Udvar-Hazy sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.12, for a total value of $1,218,280.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,391,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,214,387.92. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 737,112 shares of company stock valued at $47,169,796 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.64% of the company’s stock.

Air Lease Stock Performance

AL opened at $64.62 on Thursday. Air Lease Corporation has a 1-year low of $38.25 and a 1-year high of $64.71. The stock has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Air Lease (NYSE:AL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.13. Air Lease had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 35.08%.The company had revenue of $725.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. Air Lease’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Air Lease Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Lease Profile

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) is a leading aircraft leasing company that acquires commercial jet aircraft and leases them to airlines worldwide. The firm’s core business activities include direct aircraft acquisition, lease management and portfolio remarketing. By structuring sale?and?leaseback transactions, operating leases and secured loans, Air Lease provides flexible financing solutions that enable carriers to modernize their fleets without committing large amounts of capital to ownership.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Los Angeles, Air Lease Corporation serves a diverse customer base spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.