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

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

JetBlue Airways Price Performance

JBLU traded up $0.98 on Tuesday, reaching $7.76. The company had a trading volume of 33,796,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,200,709. The company has a fifty day moving average of $7.25 and a 200-day moving average of $6.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.31 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. JetBlue Airways has a one year low of $4.49 and a one year high of $8.31.

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

Insider Activity at JetBlue Airways

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,410,772 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $254,749,000 after buying an additional 121,267 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 14,595.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,599,279 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $130,470,000 after purchasing an additional 16,486,326 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,771,993 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $68,948,000 after purchasing an additional 678,891 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,725,671 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063,929 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 88.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,513,751 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584,350 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.85 to $7.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of JetBlue Airways from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.