Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 2,959,857 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 6,414.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC owned 0.50% of Southwest Airlines worth $89,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after buying an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after buying an additional 7,946,199 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -465.79, a PEG ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.43. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on LUV shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.