Azul (NYSE:AZUL) Shares Up 4.9%

Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL)’s share price shot up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $7.89 and last traded at $7.86. 901,910 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 1,328,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barclays dropped their price objective on Azul from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.76.

Azul Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.61 and a beta of 1.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.52.

Institutional Trading of Azul

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Azul by 721.4% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in Azul by 83.9% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Azul by 3,578.9% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its position in Azul by 930.7% in the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,276 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in Azul by 66.7% during the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Azul Company Profile

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled air transportation services in Brazil. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 158 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 177 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 194 aircraft.