M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Buys Shares of 15,558 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 15,558 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline's stock valued at $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of 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 trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $29.50 target price (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $32.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,465,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,794,093. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -459.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $33.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

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.