Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Decreases Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,351 shares of the airline's stock after selling 15,352 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV traded up $3.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.59. The stock had a trading volume of 28,869,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,825,533. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.62 and a 200 day moving average of $31.50.

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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 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.27.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.