Mariner LLC Sells 15,690 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Mariner LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,443 shares of the airline's stock after selling 15,690 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock worth $475,092,000 after buying an additional 320,421 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline's stock valued at $116,545,000 after buying an additional 88,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline's stock valued at $116,247,000 after buying an additional 56,757 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.88.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $24.73 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $14.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G 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.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio 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.

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