Hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines. According to a regulatory filing on Feb. 23, Elliott sold 7.725 million Southwest shares between Feb. 11 and Feb. 23 at prices ranging from $50.35 to $54.83.
The move leaves the activist investor, led by billionaire Paul Singer, with 45.875 million Southwest shares, representing 9.3% of the airline’s common stock.
The divestment enabled Elliott to cash in on the surge in Southwest share prices over the past several months. Southwest shares are up more than 55% since late August.
Elliott initially took a large stake in Southwest in June 2024, when shares were trading at around $30. The company has since played a major role in driving change at the airline, using a threatened proxy vote in fall 2024 to reconstitute the board of directors and to influence management to make Southwest a conventional U.S. airline that assigns seats and charges bag fees, among other changes to its operations.
In January, Southwest forecast that with its model transformed, earnings per share will more than quadruple from last year.
This month, Elliott turned its attention to Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, where it is calling for changes after acquiring more than 10% of NCLH stock.