American Airlines Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:AAL)

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 145,792 put options on the company. This is an increase of 35% compared to the average daily volume of 108,179 put options.

American Airlines Group Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of AAL stock traded down $0.78 on Monday, hitting $17.60. The company had a trading volume of 28,351,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,927,291. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.77. The firm has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35. American Airlines Group has a twelve month low of $9.07 and a twelve month high of $18.45.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.14. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 18.62%. The firm had revenue of $13.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Airlines Group will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AAL shares. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Melius raised American Airlines Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised American Airlines Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Scotiabank upgraded American Airlines Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Airlines Group

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $1,763,009.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of American Airlines Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 34.4% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,881,356 shares of the airline's stock worth $644,466,000 after purchasing an additional 14,549,310 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 75.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,240,659 shares of the airline's stock worth $48,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,928 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Airlines Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,490,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 379.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,667,539 shares of the airline's stock valued at $18,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319,859 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in American Airlines Group by 10,997.9% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,167,056 shares of the airline's stock worth $13,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.44% of the company's stock.

American Airlines Group Company Profile

American Airlines Group Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a network air carrier. The company provides scheduled air transportation services for passengers and cargo through its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, DC, as well as through partner gateways in London, Doha, Madrid, Seattle/Tacoma, Sydney, and Tokyo.

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