Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,901,974 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 10,200 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 1.82% of Southwest Airlines worth $366,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $34.38 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.27 and a 200-day moving average of $31.48. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a PE ratio of 47.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LUV. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.