New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 43,273 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 464,042 shares of the airline's stock after selling 43,273 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.08% of Southwest Airlines worth $15,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline's stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline's stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline's stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.1 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $30.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,796,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,342,575. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.74. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.