Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Shares Up 6.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) rose 6.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $13.20 and last traded at $13.00. Approximately 8,999,978 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 15,033,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Lyft from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.03.

Lyft Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 208.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 8.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Lyft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the ride-sharing company to purchase up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $30,348.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. This represents a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 297,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,970,517.60. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LYFT. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

About Lyft

Lyft, Inc operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing in the United States and Canada. It operates multimodal transportation networks that offer access to various transportation options through the Lyft platform and mobile-based applications. The company's platform provides a ridesharing marketplace, which connects drivers with riders; Express Drive, a car rental program for drivers; and a network of shared bikes and scooters in various cities to address the needs of riders for short trips.