3,172 Shares in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,172 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the fourth quarter valued at about $146,935,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SkyWest in the fourth quarter worth $23,851,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 525,722 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $52,641,000 after acquiring an additional 192,543 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 1,999.6% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 158,248 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,845,000 after acquiring an additional 150,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in SkyWest by 563.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,940 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $13,002,000 after purchasing an additional 129,901 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total value of $1,515,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,063,404.32. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total value of $1,715,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 449,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,333,010.22. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Trading Down 2.7%

SkyWest stock traded down $2.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $100.65. The stock had a trading volume of 289,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,317. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $92.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.46. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.61 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 1.88.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.38. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the stock 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, Raymond James lowered their price target on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

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.