Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd

PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 295,970 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 4,695 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines makes up about 3.1% of PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $9,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $107,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $116,545,000 after acquiring an additional 88,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $116,247,000 after purchasing an additional 56,757 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of LUV opened at $33.58 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.53. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 46.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.54.

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.