New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 3,886 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,540 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 3,886 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.12% of SkyWest worth $4,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 97,108 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 543,009 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $54,371,000 after acquiring an additional 21,637 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 57.8% in the 4th 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,763 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $47,338,000 after acquiring an additional 51,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 415,296 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $41,584,000 after acquiring an additional 57,547 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW traded up $1.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $112.30. 993,626 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 369,550. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $135.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.88.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a return on equity of 17.01% and a net margin of 10.62%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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 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 typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SKYW has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised SkyWest from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $124.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total value of $1,715,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 449,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,333,010.22. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 119,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,063,404.32. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,994,520. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.