Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,547 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in SkyWest by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 357,510 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,396,000 after buying an additional 11,169 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 129,901 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 11,494 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in SkyWest by 12.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $58,051,000 after purchasing an additional 76,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth approximately $242,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of SKYW stock opened at $93.32 on Thursday. SkyWest, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.61 and a fifty-two week high of $135.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $102.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $120.00) on shares of SkyWest in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Transactions at SkyWest

In related news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total transaction of $681,420.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 directly 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. Company 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.