Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Price Target Raised to $18.00

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $16.50 to $18.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Lyft from $24.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Melius Research started coverage on Lyft in a report on Monday, July 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Lyft from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.23.

Lyft Stock Performance

NASDAQ LYFT traded up $0.09 on Thursday, reaching $17.78. The stock had a trading volume of 28,803,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,121,569. The stock has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -111.13 and a beta of 2.04. Lyft has a 12-month low of $8.93 and a 12-month high of $20.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $12.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05. Lyft had a negative return on equity of 8.57% and a negative net margin of 1.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lyft will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other Lyft news, Director Logan Green sold 10,323 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total value of $119,953.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 330,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,843,779.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Logan Green sold 10,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total transaction of $119,953.26. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,790 shares in the company, valued at $3,843,779.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 7,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total transaction of $81,943.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 932,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,625,506.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,664 shares of company stock valued at $380,048. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Lyft during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Lyft by 4,032.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,554 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 3,468 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.