Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Raised to “Neutral” at Arete

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Arete from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $20.00 price objective on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Arete’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 10.07% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. 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 note on Thursday, November 6th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Lyft from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Lyft from $15.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Lyft from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.67.

Lyft Trading Up 3.7%

Lyft stock opened at $22.24 on Wednesday. Lyft has a 12 month low of $9.66 and a 12 month high of $25.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.81. The company has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.99.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 14,606 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $292,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 835,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,715,640. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jill Beggs sold 1,466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $29,686.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,129.50. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LYFT. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Lyft by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 26,162 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 9,913 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Lyft by 69.7% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 18,412 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 7,562 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lyft by 71.0% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 192,416 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 79,916 shares during the period. Ariadne Wealth Management LP increased its stake in shares of Lyft by 10.0% in the third quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 14,019 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lyft during the 3rd quarter valued at $223,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.