Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 423,158 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.08% of Ryanair at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RYAAY. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Ryanair by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,180,202 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $138,625,000 after purchasing an additional 514,754 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Ryanair by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,804,773 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $165,850,000 after acquiring an additional 209,424 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Ryanair by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 152,194 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,930 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Ryanair by 117.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,283 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 13,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ryanair by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,097,790 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,904,000 after purchasing an additional 43,114 shares during the last quarter. 43.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on RYAAY. StockNews.com cut shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $147.00.

Ryanair Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RYAAY opened at $45.68 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.87. Ryanair Holdings plc has a 52-week low of $36.96 and a 52-week high of $57.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.41.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.20. Ryanair had a return on equity of 21.46% and a net margin of 12.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ryanair Holdings plc will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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.