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

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 83,415 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 80% compared to the typical daily volume of 46,249 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LYFT. Benchmark raised Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (down from $23.00) on shares of Lyft in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.03.

Lyft Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:LYFT traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $12.49. 39,008,139 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,033,141. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 208.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15. Lyft has a 52-week low of $8.93 and a 52-week high of $20.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $13.03 and a 200-day moving average of $13.81.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. As a group, analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other news, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 297,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,970,517.60. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $30,348.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Lyft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 355,864 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $4,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the period. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Lyft during the fourth quarter worth about $268,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Lyft by 157.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 85,600 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 52,333 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $950,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.