Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Reduces Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 53.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,340 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 11,683 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 533.0% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 52,869 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 44,517 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 89,072 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 91,467 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,075,000 after acquiring an additional 4,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 67,741 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.4 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.07 on Friday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 43.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.89 and its 200 day moving average is $30.98.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.78.

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.