Darrell Thomas Hughes Sells 8,197 Shares of Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Stock

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) insider Darrell Thomas Hughes sold 8,197 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $213,203.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 37,362 shares in the company, valued at $971,785.62. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Ryanair Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RYAAY opened at $59.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.50. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 1-year low of $53.14 and a 1-year high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 25.58%. Analysts forecast that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryanair

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Ryanair by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 39,929,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,884,834,000 after buying an additional 2,464,742 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Ryanair by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,051,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,241,612,000 after buying an additional 312,323 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Ryanair by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,304,889 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $527,341,000 after buying an additional 985,939 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Ryanair by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,752,264 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $332,480,000 after buying an additional 185,110 shares during the period. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its stake in Ryanair by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 3,949,246 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $228,266,000 after buying an additional 385,444 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ryanair from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore upgraded shares of Ryanair from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.67.

Ryanair News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ryanair this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple Ryanair insiders sold shares, but the company said the transactions were related to tax withholding on vested equity awards, suggesting the activity may be routine rather than a negative signal. CEO Andreas Gruber sale filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Ryanair also reported a mixed quarterly update: earnings per share beat estimates, but revenue came in below expectations, leaving investors with a balanced read on operating performance. Ryanair earnings and stock information
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain generally constructive on Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY), with several firms reiterating bullish ratings and an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus, which may be supporting the stock. Analyst ratings overview

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.