Insider Selling: Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) CMO Sells $233,387.73 in Stock

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) CMO Dara Brady sold 8,973 shares of Ryanair stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 17,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,475.50. This trade represents a 33.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of RYAAY stock opened at $59.62 on Friday. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 1-year low of $53.14 and a 1-year high of $74.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.50. 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 company has a market cap of $31.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Ryanair had a return on equity of 25.58% and a net margin of 13.95%. On average, research analysts expect that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in 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 period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Ryanair by 2,929.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 515 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Ryanair by 1,057.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ryanair by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 584 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Weiss Ratings cut Ryanair from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.67.

Key Stories Impacting Ryanair

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

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.