California Public Employees Retirement System Has $24.73 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 735,690 shares of the airline's stock after selling 88,374 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of Southwest Airlines worth $24,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 10.6 %

LUV traded down $3.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.79. The stock had a trading volume of 23,110,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,658,239. The company has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.