Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 23.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 99,407 shares of the airline's stock after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline's stock valued at $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline's stock worth $107,359,000 after buying an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline's stock worth $100,080,000 after buying an additional 46,110 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline's stock valued at $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines
In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.7 %
LUV stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.01. The stock had a trading volume of 5,863,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,076,443. 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 moving average price of $31.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -471.71, a PEG ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 1.16. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.37.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Southwest Airlines
About Southwest Airlines
(
Free Report)
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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