Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $5.82 Million Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,223 shares of the airline's stock after selling 52,838 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock worth $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline's stock worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline's stock worth $116,545,000 after purchasing an additional 88,869 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline's stock worth $116,247,000 after buying an additional 56,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,636,000 after buying an additional 133,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LUV. UBS Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. 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. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.8 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,862,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,132,392. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $31.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.46. The company has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Southwest Airlines Profile

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.