Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Sanford C. Bernstein Analyst Says

Key Points

• Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target to $23 (from $22) and kept a "market perform" rating—implying about a 4.36% upside—while the Street consensus remains a "Hold" with an average target near $22.58.
• Lyft missed Q results, reporting $0.13 EPS versus $0.30 expected and $1.69B revenue versus $1.71B expected, though revenue was up 11.6% year‑over‑year.
• Shares trade near $22 (close to a 52‑week high of $23.50) with a market cap around $8.96B and a P/E of 58; insiders have recently sold stock while institutional investors own roughly 83% of shares.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "market perform" rating on the ride-sharing company's stock. Sanford C. Bernstein's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.36% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on LYFT. DA Davidson set a $22.00 price target on Lyft in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lyft from $15.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.58.

Lyft Trading Up 3.7%

Lyft stock opened at $22.04 on Monday. Lyft has a 12 month low of $9.66 and a 12 month high of $23.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 2.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $20.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.90.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Lyft had a return on equity of 18.29% and a net margin of 2.40%.Lyft's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lyft news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 28,356 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.85, for a total transaction of $449,442.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 850,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,478,649.80. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Erin Brewer sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total transaction of $228,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 540,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,241,167.16. This trade represents a 2.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 74,427 shares of company stock worth $1,252,686 in the last quarter. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lyft by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,049,250 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $451,645,000 after acquiring an additional 2,046,639 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 26.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,178,118 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lyft by 144.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,009,925 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $378,396,000 after purchasing an additional 14,205,143 shares during the period. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new position in Lyft in the first quarter worth $130,434,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lyft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,633,591 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $104,561,000 after buying an additional 20,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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.