6,093 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Purchased by Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 6,093 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LUV shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction 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 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $33.14 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.86 and its 200-day moving average is $29.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -473.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released 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. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for 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%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Southwest Airlines Profile

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.