Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Position Lifted by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 45.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,188 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,936 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,792,914,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946,199 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,435 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.60 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.21. The company has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -437.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.44 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.14.

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.