Private Advisor Group LLC Increases Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,422 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.14.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $30.57 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The stock has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -436.71, a PEG ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.