Dara Brady Sells 8,973 Shares of Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Stock

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) CMO Dara Brady sold 8,973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $233,387.73. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 17,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,475.50. This trade represents a 33.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 Trading Up 3.8%

NASDAQ RYAAY opened at $59.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $31.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.50. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 52 week low of $53.14 and a 52 week high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Ryanair News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on RYAAY shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Ryanair from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ryanair has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Ryanair by 33.4% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 163,875 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,869,000 after acquiring an additional 41,065 shares during the period. Capula Management Ltd acquired a new position in Ryanair during the third quarter worth $1,235,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Ryanair by 151.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 355,617 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,672,000 after acquiring an additional 213,948 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Ryanair by 10,134.5% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,002 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,108,000 after acquiring an additional 34,660 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Ryanair by 192.8% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 21,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 14,316 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.