SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Bought by Caxton Associates LP

Caxton Associates LP increased its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 825.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,317 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,473 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LP owned approximately 0.07% of SkyWest worth $2,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth $146,935,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,390,300 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $139,211,000 after acquiring an additional 97,108 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 709,355 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $71,028,000 after acquiring an additional 26,561 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in SkyWest by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 543,009 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $54,371,000 after acquiring an additional 21,637 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in SkyWest by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 525,722 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $52,641,000 after acquiring an additional 192,543 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SKYW. Raymond James decreased their target price on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW traded up $3.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.03. 337,386 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 395,479. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 1.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.69. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.61 and a twelve month high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.38. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The company had revenue of $948.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $946.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About SkyWest

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.