SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Position Lowered by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 84.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,653 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 26,210 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in SkyWest were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SKYW. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,935,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth $23,851,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 525,722 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $52,641,000 after purchasing an additional 192,543 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of SkyWest by 1,999.6% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 158,248 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,845,000 after purchasing an additional 150,711 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in SkyWest by 563.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,940 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,002,000 after purchasing an additional 129,901 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th.

SkyWest Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ SKYW traded down $0.97 on Friday, reaching $101.38. The company had a trading volume of 36,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,733. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.92 and a 200-day moving average of $100.72. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.61 and a 1 year high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.13 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The firm's revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SkyWest news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total transaction of $1,715,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 449,242 shares in the company, valued at $45,333,010.22. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.