Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in Ryanair by 3.8% in Q3, selling 38,054 shares and finishing the period with 953,741 shares (about 0.18% ownership) worth roughly $57.3 million.
• Ryanair beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.26 (vs. $0.18 expected) and revenue of $3.77 billion (vs. $3.16 billion expected), and the company paid a special dividend of $0.4545 per share.
• Analyst coverage is mixed but tilted positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $73.50, while institutional investors own about 43.7% of the stock.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 953,741 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 38,054 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Ryanair worth $57,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ryanair by 13.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,176,538 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $191,291,000 after purchasing an additional 376,145 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ryanair by 43.1% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,423,685 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $82,104,000 after acquiring an additional 428,932 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ryanair by 658.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,245 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $42,041,000 after purchasing an additional 861,361 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Ryanair by 0.3% during the third quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 956,650 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $57,609,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Ryanair by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 882,136 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $50,873,000 after purchasing an additional 85,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RYAAY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Ryanair from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Erste Group Bank lowered Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ryanair presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.50.

Ryanair Price Performance

Shares of RYAAY stock opened at $63.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $33.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $68.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.12. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 12 month low of $38.52 and a 12 month high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.08. Ryanair had a return on equity of 29.76% and a net margin of 15.04%.The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Research analysts expect that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ryanair Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a $0.4545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Ryanair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.26%.

About Ryanair

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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