Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 74.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,646 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 25,188 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LUV. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,712 shares of the airline’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,625 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 5,981 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,590 shares of the airline’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 34,189 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,148,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth $736,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.38.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at $710,029.32. The trade was a 16.48% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE LUV opened at $30.06 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $37.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.35 and a 200-day moving average of $31.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

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.