Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 239,321 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Primecap Management Co. CA cut its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,669,524 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 239,321 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines comprises approximately 1.1% of Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.08% of Southwest Airlines worth $1,471,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $120,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,607 shares of the airline’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 3,775 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 747.1% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 27,837 shares of the airline’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 24,551 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.3% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 188,665 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after buying an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.46 and a 200-day moving average of $28.58. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

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

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.