Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 49.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 159,428 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 155,247 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Pandora Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 67.8% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The stock has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 49.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.75.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%.The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 110.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LUV. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. HSBC cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.38.

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.