Baillie Gifford & Co. Trims Stock Position in Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) by 14.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,485,567 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,334,486 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Ryanair were worth $812,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ryanair by 658.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,041,000 after purchasing an additional 861,361 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ryanair by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,591 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its stake in Ryanair by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 4,790,231 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $276,253,000 after buying an additional 36,559 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Ryanair during the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ryanair in the 2nd quarter worth $295,000. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ryanair Price Performance

RYAAY stock opened at $70.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.03 and a 200-day moving average of $64.09. The company has a market cap of $37.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 12-month low of $38.52 and a 12-month high of $74.24.

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

Ryanair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Ryanair’s payout ratio is 13.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RYAAY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. 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 report on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ryanair presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

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.