The Goldman Sachs Group Upgrades Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) to Buy

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $20.00 price objective on the ride-sharing company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.84% from the company's previous close.

LYFT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $18.00 target price (down previously from $23.00) on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lyft presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.56.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of LYFT stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $16.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,552,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,412,260. Lyft has a 52 week low of $8.93 and a 52 week high of $19.07. The company has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 280.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.03 and a 200-day moving average of $13.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.19). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Lyft announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the ride-sharing company to purchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 297,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,970,517.60. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 22,736 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.45, for a total transaction of $283,063.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 959,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,948,227.65. This trade represents a 2.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,143 shares of company stock valued at $486,841. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth $171,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Lyft by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 382,463 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $5,006,000 after buying an additional 142,880 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lyft by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 12,864 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lyft by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,181 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 9,342 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.