Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,410,772 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,267 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of JetBlue Airways worth $254,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,538 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of JetBlue Airways during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 7,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 2,850 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of JetBlue Airways during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in JetBlue Airways by 85.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,353 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 3,857 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

JetBlue Airways Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JBLU opened at $3.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. JetBlue Airways Co. has a 12 month low of $3.62 and a 12 month high of $8.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.68 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $6.07 and its 200 day moving average is $6.60.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.21. JetBlue Airways had a negative return on equity of 9.31% and a negative net margin of 8.57%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. Research analysts predict that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JBLU has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of JetBlue Airways in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut JetBlue Airways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $9.00 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on JetBlue Airways from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on JetBlue Airways from $6.85 to $7.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of JetBlue Airways from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nik Mittal acquired 100,000 shares of JetBlue Airways stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.14 per share, for a total transaction of $614,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 15,000 shares of JetBlue Airways stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total value of $112,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,747.50. This trade represents a 26.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

JetBlue Airways 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.