Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Buys 4,486 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,462 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 4,486 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2,299.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 116,238 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,444,000 after purchasing an additional 111,394 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 107,913 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,175,000 after buying an additional 40,973 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,753 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 90.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,066 shares of the airline’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,932 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $31.07 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.89 and a 200-day moving average of $31.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 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.