Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. reduced its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,594 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,237 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $523,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Triangle Securities Wealth Management purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,975 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 6,759 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the 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 owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $31.89 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of -455.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 target price (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.31.

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.