JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Price Target to $14.00

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $16.00 to $14.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

LYFT has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Lyft in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Benchmark upgraded Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Lyft from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.60.

Lyft Price Performance

LYFT stock opened at $10.93 on Tuesday. Lyft has a 1 year low of $8.93 and a 1 year high of $19.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 182.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.73.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to purchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lyft 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 transaction of $30,348.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of Lyft 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 297,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,970,517.60. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Lyft by 7.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 417,709 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 28,357 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Lyft by 2,053.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,714 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 31,195 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Lyft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 355,864 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $4,591,000 after buying an additional 1,783 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter worth $268,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 157.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 85,600 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 52,333 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.