Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Boosts Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP raised its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 197.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,894 shares of the airline's stock after acquiring an additional 16,534 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock worth $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 44,930 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,511,000 after buying an additional 7,137 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,857.9% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,013,657 shares of the airline's stock worth $34,079,000 after buying an additional 979,388 shares during the last quarter. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $15,904,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 336.0% in the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 108,765 shares of the airline's stock worth $3,657,000 after buying an additional 83,818 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 16,670 shares of company stock valued at $464,944 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James 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. Finally, Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV traded up $0.84 on Friday, reaching $32.69. The stock had a trading volume of 10,098,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,069,358. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business's 50-day moving average price is $29.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.07. The company has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.36) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid 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 2.20%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.