Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,344,209 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the previous session’s volume of 1,437,522 shares.The stock last traded at $66.43 and had previously closed at $67.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Evercore raised Ryanair from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ryanair from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $79.00 price target on shares of Ryanair in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ryanair has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.33.

Ryanair Stock Down 0.9%

The stock has a market cap of $34.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The transportation company reported ($0.86) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.09. Ryanair had a return on equity of 25.58% and a net margin of 13.95%.The company had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ryanair

In related news, insider Juliusz Grzegorz Komorek sold 14,053 shares of Ryanair stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $365,518.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 46,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,203,326.64. The trade was a 23.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Eddie Joseph Wilson sold 21,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $548,290.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,447,001.26. This trade represents a 13.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 126,607 shares of company stock valued at $3,386,997.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryanair

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RYAAY. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 76.0% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 484 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ryanair by 2,929.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 515 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ryanair by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 584 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Ryanair by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 653 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.66% of the company’s stock.

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.