Martin Worley Group Makes New $296,000 Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Martin Worley Group bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,818 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.43.

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Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $3.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.79. 23,110,025 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,658,239. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought 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 trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.