Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU)

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 58,522 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 149% compared to the average daily volume of 23,496 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at JetBlue Airways

In other JetBlue Airways news, Director Nik Mittal acquired 100,000 shares of JetBlue Airways stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.14 per share, for a total transaction of $614,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 116,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $714,960.02. This trade represents a 608.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of JetBlue Airways

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JBLU. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 1,951.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 4,205 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 130.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,478 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 2,538 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JBLU opened at $7.76 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $7.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.46. JetBlue Airways has a twelve month low of $4.49 and a twelve month high of $8.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.31 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.21. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 9.29% and a negative net margin of 8.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that JetBlue Airways will post -0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JBLU. Citigroup increased their price target on JetBlue Airways from $6.85 to $7.60 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $6.50 price target on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna cut their price target on JetBlue Airways from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on JetBlue Airways from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded JetBlue Airways to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.51.

JetBlue Airways Company Profile

JetBlue Airways Corporation provides air transportation services. The company operates a fleet of Airbus A321, Airbus A220, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320 Restyled, Airbus A320, Airbus A321 with Mint, Airbus A321neo with Mint, Airbus A321neoLR with Mint, and Embraer E190 aircraft. It also serves 100 destinations across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, Canada, and Europe.