545,491 Shares in Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY Purchased by Milford Funds Ltd.

Key Points

• Milford Funds Ltd. disclosed a new position in Ryanair Holdings, buying 545,491 shares worth about $39.4 million in the fourth quarter, equal to roughly 0.10% of the company.
• Several other hedge funds also adjusted their Ryanair stakes, and institutional investors now own 43.66% of the airline’s shares.
• Ryanair reported quarterly EPS of -$0.86, beating estimates, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $77.67.

Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 545,491 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $39,379,000. Milford Funds Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Ryanair as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RYAAY. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 280.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 472 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 484 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 2,929.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 515 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ryanair by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 653 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ryanair during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ryanair news, CMO Dara Brady sold 8,973 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total value of $233,387.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 17,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,475.50. This trade represents a 33.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Juliusz Grzegorz Komorek sold 14,053 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $365,518.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,203,326.64. This represents a 23.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 111,607 shares of company stock worth $2,918,397 in the last three months.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Evercore raised shares of Ryanair from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ryanair from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.67.

Ryanair Stock Performance

Ryanair stock opened at $60.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.03. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 1-year low of $53.14 and a 1-year high of $74.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $31.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.15.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The transportation company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 25.58%. On average, analysts expect that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Ryanair Company Profile

Ryanair Holdings plc is an Irish low-cost airline group headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1984, the company grew into one of Europe's largest budget carriers by offering point-to-point scheduled passenger services with an emphasis on low fares, high aircraft utilization and rapid turnaround times. Ryanair serves a broad network across Europe and nearby regions, focusing on both intra-European leisure travel and short-haul business routes.

The group primarily operates a single-type fleet based on the Boeing 737 family, supplemented by a mix of in-house and subsidiary airlines that help serve different markets and regulatory environments.

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