Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 47,673 Shares of Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY - Free Report) by 172.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,354 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 47,673 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in Ryanair were worth $3,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in RYAAY. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ryanair by 261.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 893 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in Ryanair by 152.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,211 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 8,579 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Ryanair by 152.2% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 22,476 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 13,564 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Ryanair by 150.0% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,895 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 17,337 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ryanair by 189.9% during the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 12,510 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 43.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Ryanair Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ RYAAY traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $45.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,039,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,142. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Ryanair Holdings plc has a fifty-two week low of $36.96 and a fifty-two week high of $60.29. The firm has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.50. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $44.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.20.

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

Ryanair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.4677 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Ryanair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.