Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 55,305 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $1,859,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 90.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,642 shares of the airline's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 research report on Thursday. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed 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, January 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV traded up $0.69 on Friday, hitting $34.84. 21,659,775 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,100,472. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $31.16 and its 200 day moving average is $31.38. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

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, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.