Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Major Shareholder Elliott Investment Management Sells 1,203,920 Shares

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.47. The stock had a trading volume of 7,541,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,433,398. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The company has a market capitalization of $18.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -448.71, a P/E/G ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.14.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth about $222,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 63,119 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares in the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $459,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 90.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,066 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.