Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of JetBlue Airways Put Options (NASDAQ:JBLU)

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 53,805 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the typical daily volume of 32,829 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at JetBlue Airways

In other JetBlue Airways news, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 77,253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.76, for a total value of $444,977.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 211,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,215,930.24. This trade represents a 26.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vivek Sharma sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.41, for a total transaction of $173,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 35,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $191,941.39. This trade represents a 47.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,253 shares of company stock worth $629,597. Insiders own 2.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 162.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,707 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 4,768 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in JetBlue Airways in the second quarter worth $133,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in JetBlue Airways by 78.6% in the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 47,668 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 20,985 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways during the second quarter worth $6,890,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 131.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,304 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 6,980 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $3.50 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial restated an “underperform” rating on shares of JetBlue Airways in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $6.75 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.54.

JetBlue Airways Trading Up 2.9%

NASDAQ JBLU traded up $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $6.41. 41,410,811 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,433,000. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.70. JetBlue Airways has a 52-week low of $3.87 and a 52-week high of $6.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.68 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.20.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.03. JetBlue Airways had a negative net margin of 9.32% and a negative return on equity of 45.92%. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.21) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that JetBlue Airways will post -2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JetBlue Airways Company Profile

JetBlue Airways Corporation is a low-cost scheduled passenger airline headquartered in Long Island City, New York. Since commencing service in 2000, the carrier has built a reputation for combining competitive fares with enhanced onboard amenities, including free in-flight entertainment, complimentary snacks and beverages, and onboard Wi-Fi. JetBlue operates a single fleet type of Airbus A320 family and Embraer 190 aircraft, which supports its focus on efficiency and operational consistency.

The airline’s core offerings include economy-class travel and a premium business-class product known as Mint, which features lie-flat seats, curated culinary options and elevated service on select transcontinental and international routes.