8,481 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Purchased by Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,481 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock valued at $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock valued at $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock valued at $202,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.63, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.17 and a 200 day moving average of $31.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.36) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the firm'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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.88.

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.

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