11,967 Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,499 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 11,967 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 954.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 127,331 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,784,000 after acquiring an additional 115,251 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 19.3% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 539,612 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $27,747,000 after purchasing an additional 87,146 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 93,837 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,825,000 after buying an additional 64,402 shares in the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $17,913,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,924,407 shares of the airline’s stock worth $147,440,000 after purchasing an additional 176,742 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $44.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $30.84 and a one year high of $55.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The airline reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 18.05%. The business had revenue of $8.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co is a major U.S. passenger airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company provides scheduled air transportation for leisure and business travelers, with service connecting cities throughout the United States and selected destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America.

Southwest is known for its predominantly domestic network and point-to-point operating model. In addition to passenger flights, the company offers ancillary services and air cargo transportation.