Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stock Position Lifted by Brevan Howard Capital Management LP

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 179.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 142,813 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 91,689 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after buying an additional 2,896,150 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock worth $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock worth $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,897,564 shares of the airline's stock worth $164,656,000 after acquiring an additional 400,886 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James restated 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. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.43.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 16,670 shares of company stock valued at $464,944. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.4 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.20. 7,152,430 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,983,321. The company has a market cap of $17.78 billion, a PE ratio of 43.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company's fifty day moving average price is $29.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines 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.