Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 105,633 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 8,684 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 42.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the airline’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 32,373 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $31.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $22.58 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.84 and its 200 day moving average is $28.22.

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. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.31.

Insider Activity

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

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.