SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Sold by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC trimmed its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 46.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,381 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 13,423 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in SkyWest were worth $1,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SKYW. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in SkyWest in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,935,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in SkyWest in the fourth quarter valued at $23,851,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 192,543 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 399,324 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $39,984,000 after purchasing an additional 128,524 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James decreased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of SkyWest from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

SkyWest Trading Up 2.6 %

SkyWest stock traded up $2.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $85.63. 368,064 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 398,513. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.78. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 earned $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.