Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,732 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 711 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.21 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $32.52 and a 200-day moving average of $30.60. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.95, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.