Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Lyft, Inc. $LYFT

Key Points

• Norges Bank opened a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter, buying 5.68 million shares valued at about $110 million and becoming a roughly 1.42% owner of the company.
• Lyft continues to attract institutional interest, with several other hedge funds also increasing or initiating positions; overall, institutional investors now own 83.07% of the stock.
• Despite a recent earnings miss on EPS, Lyft reported 17.2% revenue growth year over year, and the company also has a $1 billion share buyback authorization in place.

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,678,232 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock, valued at approximately $109,987,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.42% of Lyft as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of Lyft during the fourth quarter worth about $159,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 30,234 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,970,279 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $76,904,000 after purchasing an additional 905,702 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,174 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arista Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lyft during the fourth quarter worth about $291,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lyft

In other Lyft news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 11,491 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $172,365.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 853,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,805,965. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 5,460 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $75,129.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 335,463 shares in the company, valued at $4,615,970.88. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,196 shares of company stock valued at $788,521. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Lyft in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research raised Lyft from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.83.

Lyft Stock Performance

NASDAQ LYFT opened at $14.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Lyft, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.46 and a 52-week high of $25.54. The business's 50-day moving average price is $13.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.17. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the ride-sharing company to reacquire up to 15.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Lyft 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.

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