Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Shares Gap Up to $135.81

Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $135.81, but opened at $139.25. Ryanair shares last traded at $137.29, with a volume of 106,075 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on RYAAY. StockNews.com lowered Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Ryanair from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.50.

Ryanair Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $30.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.59.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.28). Ryanair had a return on equity of 29.39% and a net margin of 15.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Research analysts predict that Ryanair Holdings plc will post 9.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ryanair

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 90.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,294,414 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,239,503,000 after acquiring an additional 4,424,400 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 9,389,236 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,252,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197,812 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 207.5% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 958,965 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $93,196,000 after acquiring an additional 647,093 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 11.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,787,913 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $504,242,000 after acquiring an additional 612,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 93.0% in the first quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 1,083,124 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $157,692,000 after acquiring an additional 521,913 shares in the last quarter. 43.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ryanair

Ryanair Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled-passenger airline services in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and internationally. It is also involved in the provision of various ancillary services, such as non-flight scheduled and Internet-related services, as well as in-flight sale of beverages, food, duty-free, and merchandise; and markets car hire, travel insurance, and accommodation services through its website and mobile app.