Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL – Get Rating) by 87.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,244 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in United Airlines were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UAL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in United Airlines by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,754,328 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,163,088,000 after purchasing an additional 244,174 shares during the period. Capital International Investors bought a new position in United Airlines in the 1st quarter worth about $351,299,000. Par Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in United Airlines by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,833,200 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $124,694,000 after purchasing an additional 447,373 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in United Airlines by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,168,419 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $146,888,000 after purchasing an additional 428,756 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in United Airlines by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,976,024 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $96,810,000 after purchasing an additional 221,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on UAL shares. BNP Paribas upgraded United Airlines from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on United Airlines in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on United Airlines from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Barclays raised United Airlines from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $52.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on United Airlines from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Airlines news, EVP Gregory L. Hart sold 20,000 shares of United Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.73, for a total value of $1,014,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $996,945.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Chris Kenny sold 16,000 shares of United Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.94, for a total value of $783,040.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $397,980.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gregory L. Hart sold 20,000 shares of United Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.73, for a total value of $1,014,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,652 shares in the company, valued at $996,945.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

United Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UAL opened at $44.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.58 and a 1-year high of $55.04. The stock's 50-day moving average is $42.94 and its 200 day moving average is $44.89.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The transportation company reported ($0.63) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.73) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $11.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.43 billion. United Airlines had a return on equity of 35.71% and a net margin of 3.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 51.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($4.24) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Airlines Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Airlines Company Profile

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United Airlines Holdings, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of transportation services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Domestic, Atlantic, Pacific, and Latin America. The company was founded on December 30, 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

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