Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 642,552 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 12,724 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.11% of Southwest Airlines worth $21,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,262,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,724,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,541,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after buying an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $25.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.60. The company has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.