Norges Bank Takes Position in Lyft, Inc. $LYFT

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,678,232 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,987,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lyft by 68.2% in the 3rd quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 594,800 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $13,092,000 after purchasing an additional 241,250 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Lyft by 4,527.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 440,405 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $8,531,000 after purchasing an additional 430,888 shares in the last quarter. Nierenberg Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in Lyft by 1,811.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nierenberg Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 813,555 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $17,906,000 after purchasing an additional 771,000 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Lyft by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,571,726 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $34,594,000 after purchasing an additional 569,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management increased its stake in Lyft by 331.4% in the 3rd quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 117,646 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 90,376 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In related news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 11,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $172,365.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 853,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,805,965. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 that occurred on 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 directly owned 30,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $414,065.92. The trade was 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 90 days, insiders have sold 54,196 shares of company stock valued at $788,521. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LYFT. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised Lyft from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $20.00 target price on Lyft in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.83.

Lyft Price Performance

LYFT stock opened at $14.12 on Friday. Lyft, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.46 and a 1 year high of $25.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.17. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.06, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.82.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.26). Lyft had a net margin of 43.82% and a negative return on equity of 2.09%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. Lyft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the ride-sharing company to buy up to 15.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Lyft

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.