Prospera Financial Services Inc Sells 1,337 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Prospera Financial Services Inc reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,237 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,337 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of LUV opened at $31.97 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.65. The firm has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -456.71, a P/E/G ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.78.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.