Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by Golden State Wealth Management LLC

Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 35.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,590 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $87,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWC Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,853 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,101 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 32,200 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.88.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $34.00 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.36) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 84.71%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% 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.