Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stake in Lyft, Inc. $LYFT

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has reduced its stake in Lyft by 32.5%, holding 975,637 shares valued at approximately $11.58 million after selling 468,790 shares.
• Several hedge funds, including Two Sigma Advisers LP and Jupiter Asset Management Ltd., have significantly increased their stakes in Lyft, with ownership now comprising 83.07% of the stock.
• Lyft reported Q2 earnings with an EPS of $0.10, missing estimates, and revenue of $1.59 billion, falling short of analyst predictions of $1.61 billion.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) by 32.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 975,637 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock after selling 468,790 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.23% of Lyft worth $11,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LYFT. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Lyft by 828.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,662,535 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $85,947,000 after acquiring an additional 5,945,000 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Lyft by 156.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,025,099 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $103,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,901,358 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,143,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 2,553.0% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,607,399 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $30,950,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Lyft by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,775,478 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $87,404,000 after buying an additional 2,240,478 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lyft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $15.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 65.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 2.26. Lyft, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.66 and a twelve month high of $19.07. The company's 50 day moving average is $14.94 and its 200 day moving average is $13.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Lyft had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on LYFT. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and set a $14.00 target price (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Lyft in a report on Monday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lyft from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lyft from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.70.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In related news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.80, for a total value of $38,299.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 879,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,896,068.40. The trade was a 0.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jill Beggs sold 1,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.41, for a total value of $25,796.52. Following the sale, the director owned 20,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $335,863.47. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.07% 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.

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