Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Lyft's stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday, trading as high as $19.35 before closing at $19.01, marking a significant increase from its previous close of $18.39.
• A consensus rating of "Hold" has been established for Lyft's stock, with a target price averaging around $16.87, despite mixed analyst ratings and target adjustments from various research firms.
• Lyft reported a miss in earnings per share for the last quarter, posting $0.10 against a consensus estimate of $0.27, while achieving a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.6% to $1.59 billion.

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $19.35 and last traded at $19.01, with a volume of 7114480 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LYFT. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $16.00 price target (up from $15.00) on shares of Lyft in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Lyft in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $20.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.07.

Lyft Price Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average is $15.52 and its 200-day moving average is $14.24. The company has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 85.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). Lyft had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 28,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.85, for a total value of $449,442.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 850,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,478,649.80. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John David Risher purchased 5,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.88 per share, with a total value of $100,030.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 11,797,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,137,850.08. This represents a 0.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,821 shares of company stock valued at $960,566 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LYFT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 144.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,009,925 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $378,396,000 after buying an additional 14,205,143 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft during the first quarter valued at approximately $130,434,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 828.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,662,535 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $85,947,000 after buying an additional 5,945,000 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 26.3% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 24,849,205 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $294,978,000 after buying an additional 5,178,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 156.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,025,099 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $103,524,000 after buying an additional 4,901,358 shares during 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.