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

JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 25,011 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 30% compared to the average volume of 19,273 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JBLU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $6.50 price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $5.50 price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.85 to $7.60 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of JetBlue Airways to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.69.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

JBLU traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $6.08. 37,366,411 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,872,408. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.43. 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 52 week low of $4.49 and a 52 week high of $8.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of -2.40 and a beta of 1.84.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 8.35% and a negative net margin of 9.17%. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that JetBlue Airways will post -0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On JetBlue Airways

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 2,584,350 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 5,648.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,470,062 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,555,000 after buying an additional 1,444,491 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 715.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,630,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,930,000 after buying an additional 1,430,622 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in JetBlue Airways by 429.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,232,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,084,000 after buying an additional 999,713 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in JetBlue Airways during the third quarter worth about $5,311,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.