Prospera Financial Services Inc Sells 1,337 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Prospera Financial Services Inc cut its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,237 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,337 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $31.97 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $30.59 and its 200 day moving average is $28.65. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $35.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -456.71, a P/E/G ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,028.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LUV shares. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.