Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 6,344 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd trimmed its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 74.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,136 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 6,344 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in SkyWest were worth $187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SKYW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 4th quarter valued at about $23,851,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 1,999.6% during the 4th 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. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 9,644.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,111 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,290,000 after purchasing an additional 150,550 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 399,324 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $39,984,000 after purchasing an additional 128,524 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its stake in SkyWest by 358.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 147,206 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $14,740,000 after purchasing an additional 115,106 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SKYW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SkyWest currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $126.75.

SkyWest Price Performance

NASDAQ:SKYW traded down $6.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.11. The stock had a trading volume of 414,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,311. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.73. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.61 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.98.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a return on equity of 16.69% and a net margin of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $2,018,667.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 114,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,392,436.82. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.25, for a total value of $1,182,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,460,035.25. This represents a 20.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,186 shares of company stock worth $11,022,798. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.