Diversify Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV – Free Report) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,221 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,435 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LUV. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,918 shares of the airline’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price target (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.31.
Southwest Airlines Price Performance
Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -458.77, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.
Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.
About Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.
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