Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank trimmed its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,529 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,483 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $75,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $30.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.51. The company has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -461.86, a PEG ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.78.

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.