Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Financial Advocates Investment Management

Financial Advocates Investment Management reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,966 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,610 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. City State Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 55.8% in the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,955 shares of the airline’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $313,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $457,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 99.4% in the third quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,271 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 4,124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LUV. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.08.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.3 %

LUV stock opened at $30.98 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.