Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 320,421 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 320,421 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.36% of Southwest Airlines worth $475,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth about $247,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 84,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,517,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 68,470 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,029,000 after buying an additional 5,107 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 58,161 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 12,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth $759,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 15.5 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $3.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.59. 28,869,270 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,825,533. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.62 and a 200-day moving average of $31.50. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.27.

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.