Stock Traders 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 Friday. Stock traders purchased 40,962 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 215% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,993 call options.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBLU traded up $1.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $7.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,609,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,284,567. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.03 and a beta of 1.90. JetBlue Airways has a 12 month low of $3.42 and a 12 month high of $7.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.93.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.26. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 10.29% and a negative net margin of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that JetBlue Airways will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in JetBlue Airways by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 84,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,891 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 24,196 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 3,730 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways during the 4th quarter worth $869,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in JetBlue Airways by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,059,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $205,681,000 after buying an additional 354,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in JetBlue Airways by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 58,330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBLU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on JetBlue Airways from $5.75 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $3.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.70.

About JetBlue Airways

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.