Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 250,780 Shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC $RYAAY

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its holdings in shares of Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,646,927 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 250,780 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 5.43% of Ryanair worth $1,725,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RYAAY. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ryanair by 55.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,784 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,601,000 after acquiring an additional 28,364 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ryanair in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,336,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ryanair during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,219,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Ryanair in the second quarter worth approximately $1,289,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ryanair by 43.1% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,423,685 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $82,104,000 after buying an additional 428,932 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ryanair Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of RYAAY opened at $68.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.25. Ryanair Holdings PLC has a 12-month low of $38.52 and a 12-month high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The transportation company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. Ryanair had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 31.32%. Equities research analysts expect that Ryanair Holdings PLC will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ryanair Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a $0.4545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio is 19.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RYAAY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research cut Ryanair from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Ryanair Profile

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.