New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 507,315 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 423 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $15,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $609,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 20,694 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 15.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 493,954 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,419,000 after purchasing an additional 64,284 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $764,000. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth $592,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $30.61 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $22.44 and a one year high of $35.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.77 and a 200 day moving average of $28.21. The company has a market capitalization of $18.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -437.29, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.14.

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.