Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,167 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $409,000.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 15.3% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,857 shares of the airline's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,925 shares of the airline's stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 409,653 shares of the airline's stock worth $13,756,000 after purchasing an additional 61,827 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,844 shares of the airline's stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 4,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,271 shares of the airline's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 23,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was 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 owned by company insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.81.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Price Performance
NYSE LUV traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.13. The stock had a trading volume of 10,373,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,256,650. The firm's 50 day moving average is $32.48 and its 200 day moving average is $31.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $37.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.68, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.21.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.36) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.
Southwest Airlines Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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