Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY Shares Sold by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Bayforest Capital Ltd cut its stake in shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) by 72.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,036 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 7,848 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Ryanair were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ryanair by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,042 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Ryanair by 4.8% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,112 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ryanair during the third quarter valued at $583,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Ryanair by 25.3% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 684 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 43.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on RYAAY. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research cut Ryanair from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Ryanair Trading Down 1.6%

Ryanair stock opened at $68.01 on Wednesday. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 12-month low of $38.52 and a 12-month high of $74.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.53.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. Ryanair had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 16.29%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryanair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a $0.4545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio is 13.85%.

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.