SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Stock Holdings Boosted by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 24.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,319 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,203 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in SkyWest were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth $146,935,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,390,300 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $139,211,000 after purchasing an additional 97,108 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 709,355 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $71,028,000 after purchasing an additional 26,561 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 543,009 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $54,371,000 after purchasing an additional 21,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Stock Up 0.5%

SKYW traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $96.87. The company had a trading volume of 192,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,332. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.92 and a 200-day moving average of $99.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.66. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $946.13 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total transaction of $1,515,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,416 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.75, for a total transaction of $1,763,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 131,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,612,311.25. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,000 shares of company stock worth $4,994,520 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reduced 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

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.