Leibman Financial Services Inc. Sells 96,044 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Leibman Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 87.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,843 shares of the airline's stock after selling 96,044 shares during the quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the business's 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 acquisition, the director now owns 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944 over the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LUV. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV traded up $1.03 on Friday, hitting $33.49. The company had a trading volume of 9,190,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,226,536. The company's fifty day moving average price is $29.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.36) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.15%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

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.