Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Trading 7.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) traded up 7.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $13.90 and last traded at $13.79. 12,681,165 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 19,836,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Lyft from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.22.

Lyft Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 222.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.55 and its 200-day moving average is $13.71.

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

Lyft declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to reacquire up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $30,348.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 911,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. The trade was a 0.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.