Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Lyft, Inc. $LYFT

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management increased its Lyft stake by 29.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 905,702 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 3,970,279 shares worth about $76.9 million.
• Lyft’s latest earnings report showed mixed results: revenue rose 17.2% year over year to $1.65 billion, but earnings per share came in at $0.04, well below the $0.30 analyst estimate.
• Analysts remain cautious overall, with Lyft carrying a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $18.83, even as the company’s board has authorized a $1 billion share buyback.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) by 29.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,970,279 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock after purchasing an additional 905,702 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.99% of Lyft worth $76,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its position in Lyft by 68.2% in the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 594,800 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $13,092,000 after purchasing an additional 241,250 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Lyft by 4,527.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 440,405 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $8,531,000 after buying an additional 430,888 shares in the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Lyft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,222,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Lyft by 634.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 88,899 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 76,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nierenberg Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lyft by 1,811.8% during the third quarter. Nierenberg Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 813,555 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $17,906,000 after acquiring an additional 771,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In other Lyft news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 23,661 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $354,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 916,022 shares in the company, valued at $13,740,330. This trade represents a 2.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $17.00 price target on Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Lyft from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lyft from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Lyft from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.83.

Lyft Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ LYFT opened at $13.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.02, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. Lyft, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.46 and a 52 week high of $25.54.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Lyft had a negative return on equity of 2.09% and a net margin of 43.82%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 15.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Lyft Company Profile

Lyft, Inc NASDAQ: LYFT operates a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform that connects passengers with drivers through a mobile application. Since its founding in 2012, the company has expanded beyond traditional ride-hailing to include bike and electric scooter rentals, while also offering rental cars and public transit options in select markets. Lyft's platform uses GPS mapping and dynamic pricing algorithms to optimize driver-passenger matches and route efficiency.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Lyft primarily serves urban and suburban markets across the United States and Canada.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.