Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Lyft from $21.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Lyft from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Lyft from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $22.00 target price on Lyft in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lyft currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.55.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.04. 21,590,512 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,815,194. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.00, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 2.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $20.29 and its 200-day moving average is $16.86. Lyft has a one year low of $9.66 and a one year high of $23.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Lyft had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 18.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lyft

In related news, CFO Erin Brewer sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total transaction of $228,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 540,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,241,167.16. This trade represents a 2.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John David Risher purchased 5,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $100,030.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,797,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,137,850.08. This represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,252,686. 3.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Lyft by 5.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,049,250 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $451,645,000 after buying an additional 2,046,639 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Lyft by 26.3% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 24,849,205 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $294,978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178,118 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 144.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,009,925 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $378,396,000 after purchasing an additional 14,205,143 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lyft in the 1st quarter valued at $130,434,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lyft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,633,591 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $104,561,000 after acquiring an additional 20,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.