Citigroup Raises Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Price Target to $18.00

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Citigroup from $15.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the ride-sharing company's stock. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 1.24% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Lyft from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Lyft from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upgraded Lyft from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.52.

Lyft Stock Up 7.1 %

Shares of LYFT stock traded up $1.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.78. 38,954,986 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,608,055. Lyft has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $20.82. The stock has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.98 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $17.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.58.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The ride-sharing company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.14. Lyft had a negative net margin of 7.73% and a negative return on equity of 54.80%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. Equities analysts predict that Lyft will post -0.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Kristin Sverchek sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.50, for a total value of $61,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 60,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,063,615. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 193,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total transaction of $3,871,728.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 932,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,688,181.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Kristin Sverchek sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.50, for a total transaction of $61,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 60,778 shares in the company, valued at $1,063,615. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 280,526 shares of company stock worth $5,358,031 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.16% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lyft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,116,655 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $481,429,000 after purchasing an additional 659,133 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $94,687,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Lyft by 5.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 5,619,470 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $59,229,000 after buying an additional 300,982 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lyft by 21.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,425,740 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $46,647,000 after acquiring an additional 778,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,630,432 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $54,420,000 after acquiring an additional 141,823 shares during the period. 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.