Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Azul (NYSE:AZUL)

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 6,881 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 59% compared to the average volume of 4,337 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azul

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZUL. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Azul by 58.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 203,190 shares of the company's stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 75,291 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Azul by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,473,976 shares of the company's stock worth $4,132,000 after buying an additional 119,023 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Azul by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 63,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 8,899 shares during the last quarter. Trellis Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Azul during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Azul during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $117,000. 0.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azul Stock Up 5.8 %

Shares of Azul stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $0.73. 8,846,935 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,645,722. Azul has a fifty-two week low of $0.48 and a fifty-two week high of $6.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $307.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.10 and a beta of 1.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AZUL. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Azul from $2.70 to $2.40 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Azul from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Azul from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.67.

Azul Company Profile

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in Brazil and internationally. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 160 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 183 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 189 aircraft.