Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Receives “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports.

LYFT has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Benchmark raised Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.03.

Lyft Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Lyft stock opened at $12.49 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.82. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $8.93 and a fifty-two week high of $20.37. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 208.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15.

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

Lyft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $30,348.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 911,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 297,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,970,517.60. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock worth $203,778 in the last quarter. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 2.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 120,443 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Lyft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $131,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter valued at about $1,057,000. Algert Global LLC raised its position in Lyft by 23.7% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 263,509 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $3,360,000 after purchasing an additional 50,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. bought a new position in Lyft during the third quarter worth about $140,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.