Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $19.00. The stock had previously closed at $16.60, but opened at $17.42. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Lyft shares last traded at $17.88, with a volume of 11,713,437 shares.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Lyft from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lyft from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lyft currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Kristin Sverchek sold 5,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $85,163.40. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 633,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,521,929. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, President Kristin Sverchek sold 5,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $85,163.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 633,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,521,929. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 193,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total value of $3,871,728.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 932,544 shares in the company, valued at $18,688,181.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 280,526 shares of company stock worth $5,358,031 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lyft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,687,000. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,069,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,433,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,457,522 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $331,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,036 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Lyft by 126.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,937,357 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $29,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,009 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lyft Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.82 and its 200 day moving average is $14.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.68 and a beta of 2.05.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The ride-sharing company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.14. Lyft had a negative net margin of 7.73% and a negative return on equity of 54.80%. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Lyft, Inc. will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft Company Profile

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.