Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 14,181 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 109.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,185 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,181 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of SkyWest worth $2,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 129,901 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,739 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $81,697,000 after purchasing an additional 6,542 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 39.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at SkyWest

In related news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $681,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 175,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,882,359.19. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total transaction of $1,537,842.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,267,563.01. This trade represents a 17.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered SkyWest from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW traded up $4.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $90.36. The company had a trading volume of 106,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,782. The business has a fifty day moving average of $90.37 and a 200-day moving average of $100.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.83. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.59. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 14.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.