Sigma Planning Corp Trims Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,843 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 935 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,792,914,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946,199 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after buying an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after buying an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.60 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $35.18. The company has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -465.79, a PEG ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.29 and its 200 day moving average is $28.43. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.