SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SKYW. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in SkyWest in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of SkyWest by 157.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 491 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in SkyWest by 117.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 832 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SkyWest by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 863 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total value of $1,537,842.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. This trade represents a 17.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total transaction of $681,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 175,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,882,359.19. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $120.00) on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

SkyWest Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ SKYW opened at $88.10 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.78. SkyWest, Inc. has a one year low of $64.61 and a one year high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 2.00.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.59. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest Company Profile

SkyWest, Inc is the holding company for two scheduled passenger airline operations and an aircraft leasing company. SkyWest’s airline companies provide commercial air service in cities throughout North America with nearly 3,000 daily flights carrying more than 53 million passengers annually. SkyWest Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.