Diversify Advisory Services LLC Lowers Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,656 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,862 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the business’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 purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 LUV stock opened at $30.57 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a PE ratio of -436.71, a P/E/G ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.14.

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.