Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Decreases Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,620 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,172 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $25.79 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.82, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.