Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 58,008 Shares of Lyft, Inc. $LYFT

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) by 282.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,569 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,008 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Lyft were worth $1,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lyft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $109,987,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,472,000. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Lyft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,870,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Lyft by 250.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,246,519 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $56,479,000 after purchasing an additional 3,033,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prevatt Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Lyft during the 1st quarter worth $25,270,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lyft Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LYFT opened at $15.98 on Friday. Lyft, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.46 and a fifty-two week high of $25.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.93.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.26). Lyft had a negative return on equity of 2.09% and a net margin of 43.82%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. Lyft’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 5,460 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $75,129.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 335,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,615,970.88. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jill Beggs sold 2,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $28,799.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,065.92. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,535 shares of company stock worth $637,456. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on LYFT shares. Zacks Research lowered Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. BTIG Research raised Lyft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Lyft from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.40.

Lyft Company Profile

Lyft, Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) operates a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform that connects passengers with drivers through a mobile application. Since its founding in 2012, the company has expanded beyond traditional ride-hailing to include bike and electric scooter rentals, while also offering rental cars and public transit options in select markets. Lyft’s platform uses GPS mapping and dynamic pricing algorithms to optimize driver-passenger matches and route efficiency.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Lyft primarily serves urban and suburban markets across the United States and Canada.