ICON Advisers decreased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) by 71.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,700 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 208,200 shares during the period. ICON Advisers’ holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Separately, Eagle Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $28,954,000.

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) traded down 1.27% during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.00. 7,001,676 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. Southwest Airlines Co has a 1-year low of $31.36 and a 1-year high of $51.34. The company has a market capitalization of $25.27 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.01 and its 200-day moving average is $40.81.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 21st. The airline reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.90. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co will post $4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 8th.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Vetr downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating and set a $40.30 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 11th. Credit Suisse restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (down from $58.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 29th. Finally, Buckingham Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.73.

In other news, CEO Gary C. Kelly sold 19,642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.75, for a total value of $918,263.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 486,592 shares in the company, valued at $22,748,176. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert E. Jordan sold 55,031 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.76, for a total transaction of $2,518,218.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,699,506.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Southwest Airlines Co. operates Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV). Southwest is a passenger airline that provides scheduled air transportation in the United States and near-international markets. The Company serves around 93 destinations in 40 states and runs international services to Montego Bay, Nassau, Oranjestad, Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos, Cancun, Mexico City and Punta Cana. It serves around 17 non-stop destinations and 581 non-stop city pairs. It operates around 665 Boeing 737 aircrafts. It provides several products, such as Business Select, Fly By Priority Lanes and SWABIZ. Its Website, southwest.com, enables purchasing and managing travel online. It offers southwest.com and swabiz.com in a translated Spanish version. Southwest provides inflight satellite-based wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) service and live television. Its service offerings include EarlyBird Check-In, Pets Are Welcome on Southwest (P.A.W.S.) products, Automated Outbound Messaging (AOM) service and southwest.com/rebook.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:LUV

Frustrated with your broker? Are you tired of paying high fees? Do you feel like you are getting ripped off by your stock broker? It's time for a change. Find out which brokerage is best for your personal trading style at the InvestorPlace Broker Center. Compare brokers at a glance in the InvestorPlace Broker Center (Click Here).

Receive News & Ratings for Southwest Airlines Co Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southwest Airlines Co and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.