Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases New Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,116 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

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

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.42 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.36. The company has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of -463.07, a P/E/G ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on 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.