Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised Lyft's price target from $19.00 to $20.50, indicating a potential upside of 8.12% from the stock's previous close, while maintaining an "equal weight" rating.
• Other analysts, including Wells Fargo and Tigress Financial, have also adjusted price targets for Lyft, with nine analysts giving it a Buy rating and an average target price of $17.07.
• Lyft reported a 10.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, despite missing earnings estimates, and its CEO recently purchased shares, increasing his stake in the company.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $19.00 to $20.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the ride-sharing company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.12% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on LYFT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lyft from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Lyft in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (up from $26.00) on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lyft from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.07.

Lyft Price Performance

NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $18.96 on Thursday. Lyft has a one year low of $9.66 and a one year high of $19.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 79.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.14.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.17). The company 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%. Lyft's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In related news, CEO John David Risher bought 5,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $100,030.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 11,797,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,137,850.08. This trade represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 28,356 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on 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 owned 850,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,478,649.80. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,821 shares of company stock worth $960,566. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYFT. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Lyft by 162.6% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,943 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Lyft in the second quarter valued at $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Lyft by 81.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in Lyft by 1,242.2% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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