Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Covestor Ltd

Covestor Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 35.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,933 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,055 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,792,914,000 after buying an additional 7,946,199 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,435 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LUV opened at $32.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.36. The stock has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of -463.07, a P/E/G ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. Barclays increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.96.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Southwest Airlines

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.