Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 26,270 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 170,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 26,270 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $17,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in SkyWest by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in SkyWest by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW opened at $90.83 on Thursday. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.61 and a 1-year high of $135.57. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $100.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.71. The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 2.00.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 175,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,882,359.19. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 68,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. This represents a 17.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James reduced their target price on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday.

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.