Lyft Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 39,055 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 23% compared to the average volume of 31,818 call options.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In related news, Director Jill Beggs sold 2,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.89, for a total value of $29,071.77. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $447,049.65. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 23,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.30, for a total value of $314,691.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 696,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,268,105. The trade was a 3.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 54,699 shares of company stock worth $771,756 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lyft by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 25,783,363 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $567,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,438 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Lyft by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,873,232 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $191,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,938 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lyft by 58.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,720,478 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $89,360,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lyft during the 4th quarter valued at $109,987,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Lyft in the fourth quarter worth $108,472,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LYFT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Lyft from $26.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Lyft from $25.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.13.

Lyft Stock Performance

LYFT stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $13.37. 19,845,754 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,425,598. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. Lyft has a 52 week low of $12.46 and a 52 week high of $25.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 1.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.84.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.26). Lyft had a net margin of 43.82% and a negative return on equity of 2.09%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the ride-sharing company to reacquire up to 15.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Lyft Company Profile

Lyft, Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) operates a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform that connects passengers with drivers through a mobile application. Since its founding in 2012, the company has expanded beyond traditional ride-hailing to include bike and electric scooter rentals, while also offering rental cars and public transit options in select markets. Lyft’s platform uses GPS mapping and dynamic pricing algorithms to optimize driver-passenger matches and route efficiency.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Lyft primarily serves urban and suburban markets across the United States and Canada.