Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Lyft Call Options (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Key Points

• Lyft saw a significant increase in call option trading, with 89,418 options purchased, representing a 105% rise compared to its typical volume of 43,600.
• The company's stock price rose 9.4% to $16.00, with a total of 21,339,228 shares traded, exceeding the average volume of 18,049,291 shares.
• Analysts maintain a "Hold" rating for Lyft, with a consensus target price of $16.70, while revenue and earnings per share fell short of expectations in its latest report.

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 89,418 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseofapproximately105% compared to the typical volume of 43,600 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LYFT shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lyft from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Lyft from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $16.00 price target (up previously from $15.00) on shares of Lyft in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Lyft in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Lyft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.70.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT traded down $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,884,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,056,320. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $14.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 2.26. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $9.66 and a fifty-two week high of $19.07.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Lyft had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 1.51%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In related news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.80, for a total transaction of $38,299.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 879,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,896,068.40. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John David Risher bought 6,538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.29 per share, for a total transaction of $99,966.02. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,791,340 shares in the company, valued at $180,289,588.60. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Lyft by 162.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lyft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in Lyft by 1,242.2% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Lyft by 81.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237 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.