New York Life Investment Management LLC Sells 509 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

New York Life Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,898 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 509 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Motco increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 151.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $26.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.51, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.59.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.27) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

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.