Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Purchased by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 12.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 144,692 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,689 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 17.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 32,551 shares of the airline’s stock worth $950,000 after buying an additional 4,891 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 618,601 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $18,057,000 after acquiring an additional 17,873 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 493,954 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,419,000 after purchasing an additional 64,284 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at $1,682,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at $423,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.03 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.07 and a 200-day moving average of $28.30. The stock has a market cap of $19.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -466.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $22.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.96.

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.