Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Earns Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $18.00 price objective on the ride-sharing company's stock, down from their previous price objective of $23.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Lyft from $10.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lyft from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Lyft from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lyft presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.22.

Lyft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.43. The company had a trading volume of 22,272,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,646,594. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -83.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.16. Lyft has a 12 month low of $8.93 and a 12 month high of $20.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a negative net margin of 1.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.58%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the ride-sharing company to purchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total value of $188,352.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 314,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,424,987. The trade was a 3.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 90.1% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 28,544 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 13,528 shares during the last quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lyft by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC now owns 375,000 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $4,838,000 after buying an additional 125,000 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at $4,309,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lyft by 194.3% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 502,563 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $6,483,000 after buying an additional 331,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lyft by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,823,906 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $62,228,000 after buying an additional 1,825,761 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.