Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 73,618 Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 73,618 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LYFT. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Lyft by 259.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,770 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lyft Stock Performance

LYFT stock traded down $0.20 on Friday, hitting $15.15. The company had a trading volume of 14,053,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,367,344. Lyft, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.93 and a 12-month high of $19.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $13.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.74. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 252.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.14.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.19). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the ride-sharing company to buy up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.80, for a total transaction of $38,299.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 879,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,896,068.40. The trade was a 0.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 22,736 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.45, for a total transaction of $283,063.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 959,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,948,227.65. This trade represents a 2.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,732 shares of company stock worth $347,159. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LYFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Lyft in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $17.00 target price (up previously from $15.00) on shares of Lyft in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Lyft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.63.

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.