Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 38,362 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 328,090 shares of the airline's stock after selling 38,362 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Southwest Airlines worth $11,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased 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 buying an additional 345 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LUV. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of LUV stock traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.93. 2,683,343 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,812,771. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $31.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.62. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.