Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Purchased by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 127,753 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,920 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $29.80 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.82.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.