Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 8,788 Shares of JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in JetBlue Airways Co. (NASDAQ:JBLU) by 833.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 8,788 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in JetBlue Airways were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of JetBlue Airways by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,410,772 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $254,749,000 after purchasing an additional 121,267 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in JetBlue Airways by 14,595.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,599,279 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $130,470,000 after acquiring an additional 16,486,326 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 678,891 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of JetBlue Airways by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,725,671 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of JetBlue Airways by 88.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,513,751 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other JetBlue Airways news, Director Nik Mittal acquired 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $6.14 per share, for a total transaction of $614,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 116,443 shares in the company, valued at $714,960.02. This trade represents a 608.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ursula L. Hurley sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total transaction of $112,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $313,747.50. This represents a 26.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

JetBlue Airways Trading Up 5.7 %

Shares of JBLU opened at $3.88 on Thursday. JetBlue Airways Co. has a 1-year low of $3.34 and a 1-year high of $8.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.66 and a beta of 1.69.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) last posted 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 9.31% and a negative net margin of 8.57%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that JetBlue Airways Co. will post -0.69 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on JBLU shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of JetBlue Airways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America dropped their target price on JetBlue Airways from $5.25 to $4.25 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on JetBlue Airways from $5.00 to $3.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James raised JetBlue Airways from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $5.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of JetBlue Airways from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.17.

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.