Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 73,207 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 81% compared to the average volume of 40,436 call options.

Lyft Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of LYFT traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $13.50. 13,438,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,965,721. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.41 and its 200-day moving average is $13.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Lyft has a 52 week low of $8.93 and a 52 week high of $20.82. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -84.38, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 2.09.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Lyft had a negative return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 1.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 314,492 shares in the company, valued at $5,424,987. This represents a 3.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 4,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.76, for a total value of $75,337.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 755,847 shares in the company, valued at $13,423,842.72. The trade was a 0.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,242 shares of company stock worth $427,330. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Lyft during the third quarter worth $27,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Lyft during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lyft during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Lyft by 4,032.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,554 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 3,468 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LYFT shares. Raymond James began coverage on Lyft in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Lyft from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Lyft from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lyft from $10.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lyft currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.77.

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.