Great week for Ryanair Holdings plc (ISE:RYA) institutional investors after losing 4.0% over the previous year

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Ryanair Holdings' stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• The top 10 shareholders own 52% of the company
• Insiders have bought recently

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Ryanair Holdings plc (ISE:RYA), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 68% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Last week's €927m market cap gain would probably be appreciated by institutional investors, especially after a year of 4.0% losses.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Ryanair Holdings.

View our latest analysis for Ryanair Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ryanair Holdings?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Ryanair Holdings. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Ryanair Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Ryanair Holdings. Our data shows that HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited is the largest shareholder with 10% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.6% and 5.8% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Michael O'Leary directly holds 4.0% of the total shares outstanding.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 10 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Ryanair Holdings

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

We can see that insiders own shares in Ryanair Holdings plc. It is a very large company, and board members collectively own €679m worth of shares (at current prices). we sometimes take an interest in whether they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 28% stake in Ryanair Holdings. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Ryanair Holdings (1 is a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.