Virtu Financial LLC Invests $455,000 in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,547 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SKYW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 357,510 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $30,396,000 after purchasing an additional 11,169 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 129,901 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 104.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,549 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,917,000 after buying an additional 11,494 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,794 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $58,051,000 after buying an additional 76,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth $242,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. This trade represents a 17.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $681,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $120.00) on shares of SkyWest in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

SkyWest Stock Performance

SKYW stock traded down $1.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $88.76. 410,705 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 391,929. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $101.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.63. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.61 and a 52 week 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.

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

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.