Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 1,796,820 Shares of Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its holdings in Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,752,082 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 1,796,820 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 4.02% of Ryanair worth $948,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC grew its position in Ryanair by 87.5% during the 3rd quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 750 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Ryanair by 153.1% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 891 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Ryanair in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in Ryanair by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ryanair by 148.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,186 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RYAAY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Ryanair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upgraded Ryanair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Ryanair from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $151.00.

Ryanair Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of RYAAY traded up $0.94 on Thursday, reaching $45.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,430,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,384,731. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.32. Ryanair Holdings plc has a 12-month low of $36.96 and a 12-month high of $60.29.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.20. Ryanair had a return on equity of 21.46% and a net margin of 12.14%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ryanair Holdings plc will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ryanair Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4677 per share. This represents a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Ryanair's payout ratio is 30.66%.

Ryanair Profile

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.