Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 117,521 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $3,482,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LUV. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.37.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $33.33. 3,188,795 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,080,343. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $19.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -479.43, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

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.