Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) CEO Andreas Gruber Sells 13,467 Shares of Stock

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) CEO Andreas Gruber sold 13,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $350,276.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 20,858 shares in the company, valued at $542,516.58. This represents a 39.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Ryanair Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of RYAAY opened at $57.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $58.67 and its 200 day moving average is $64.54. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a fifty-two week low of $53.14 and a fifty-two week high of $74.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.09. Ryanair had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 25.58%. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Ryanair

Here are the key news stories impacting Ryanair this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Several Ryanair insiders sold shares, but the filings state the transactions were made to cover tax withholding obligations tied to vesting equity awards, which usually makes the activity less concerning for investors. CEO Andreas Gruber sale filing
• Neutral Sentiment: The sales were spread across top management, including the CEO, CFO, CMO, and other insiders, but the disclosures do not indicate a change in the company’s operating outlook or a strategic shift. CFO Tracey Mccann sale filing
• Neutral Sentiment: The insider selling may keep some pressure on sentiment in the short term, but because it appears routine and tax-related, it is less likely to be viewed as a strong bearish signal. CEO Eddie Joseph Wilson sale filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

RYAAY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore upgraded shares of Ryanair from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ryanair from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ryanair presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RYAAY. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 280.6% in the third 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. grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 76.0% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 484 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 1,057.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.