International Assets Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 2,299.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,238 shares of the airline's stock after acquiring an additional 111,394 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business'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 value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.61. 6,158,239 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,881,361. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $22.44 and a one year high of $35.18. The stock has a market cap of $18.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -437.29, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $29.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.14.

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.