Susquehanna Increases Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Price Target to $18.00

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Susquehanna from $15.00 to $18.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the ride-sharing company's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LYFT. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lyft from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a report on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.56.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of LYFT traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $16.77. 22,236,165 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,219,635. The stock's fifty day moving average is $12.32 and its 200 day moving average is $13.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 279.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. Lyft has a 1-year low of $8.93 and a 1-year high of $19.07.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the ride-sharing company to buy up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $30,348.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 911,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,417,263.44. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 297,640 shares in the company, valued at $3,970,517.60. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,143 shares of company stock worth $486,841 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Lyft by 5.7% during 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 Lyft by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 24,849,205 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $294,978,000 after acquiring an additional 5,178,118 shares during the period. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new stake in Lyft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $130,434,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lyft by 103.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,804,782 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $110,598,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980,876 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Lyft by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,408,466 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $121,369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

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.