EP Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,277 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 10,184 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC owned 0.61% of SkyWest worth $24,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in SkyWest by 157.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 491 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

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

SkyWest Price Performance

NASDAQ SKYW traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $99.54. 262,858 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 395,702. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.88. The firm's 50-day moving average is $88.29 and its 200-day moving average is $100.75. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.61 and a 52-week high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.38. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. The firm had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SKYW. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

SkyWest 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.