Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 15,352 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,351 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 15,352 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $5,466,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $57,724,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 36,225 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,218,000 after buying an additional 8,712 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 64,283 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after acquiring an additional 12,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 325.6% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 203,569 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $6,844,000 after acquiring an additional 155,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LUV. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 10.6 %

LUV opened at $25.79 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.13 and a 200-day moving average of $31.58. The company has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.