William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 50,868 Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Ryanair Holdings, buying 50,868 shares valued at about $3.67 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their stakes, and institutions now own 43.66% of Ryanair’s stock.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the airline, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.67, even as some insiders recently sold shares.

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 50,868 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $3,672,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Ryanair by 2.7% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,465,187 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,250,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,457 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Ryanair by 9.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 30,738,934 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,851,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,911 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 valued at $191,291,000 after purchasing an additional 376,145 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Ryanair by 645,657.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,789,672 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $201,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA increased its stake in Ryanair by 3.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 1,467,028 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $88,344,000 after purchasing an additional 47,151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Evercore raised shares of Ryanair from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ryanair from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jason Paul Mcguinness sold 9,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.56, for a total value of $275,572.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 14,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at $394,245.80. This represents a 41.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Dara Brady sold 8,973 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $233,387.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 17,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,475.50. The trade was a 33.83% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,607 shares of company stock valued at $2,918,397.

Ryanair Stock Performance

RYAAY stock opened at $60.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.44. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a fifty-two week low of $53.14 and a fifty-two week high of $74.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 19th. The transportation company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 25.58%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RYAAY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.