ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,812 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 10,929 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $257,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,975 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 6,759 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline's stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline's stock worth $73,636,000 after purchasing an additional 133,366 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was 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 owns 14,881 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have bought a total of 16,670 shares of company stock valued at $464,944 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on LUV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.7%

LUV stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $30.98. The stock had a trading volume of 9,083,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,124,260. The firm has a market cap of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.11. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week 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.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.36) earnings per share. As a group, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 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.