Swiss National Bank Sells 19,400 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 423,100 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 19,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Southwest Airlines worth $14,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during 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. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,642 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.02.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $33.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.