Virtu Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY)

Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,080 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Ryanair were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 188.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,263,436 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,231,762,000 after buying an additional 17,810,361 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Ryanair by 175.7% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 23,548,902 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,063,939,000 after purchasing an additional 15,008,023 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ryanair by 169.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,305,368 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $284,893,000 after purchasing an additional 3,967,436 shares during the period. Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 177.4% in the third quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 4,006,107 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $180,996,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ryanair by 35.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,734,646 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $394,631,000 after buying an additional 2,279,679 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ryanair Stock Performance

Shares of RYAAY opened at $45.43 on Wednesday. Ryanair Holdings plc has a one year low of $36.96 and a one year high of $60.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.51.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The transportation company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.91 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.92%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ryanair Holdings plc will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryanair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.4677 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.2%. Ryanair’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Ryanair from $149.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays upgraded shares of Ryanair from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $154.67.

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.