Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock Price

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its target price reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 34.41% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Lyft from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lyft currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.45.

Lyft Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of LYFT opened at $11.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 186.00, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Lyft has a 1-year low of $8.93 and a 1-year high of $19.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.02 and a 200 day moving average of $13.65.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 8.03%. On average, research analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Lyft announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total value of $152,222.74. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $30,348.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 911,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock worth $203,778 over the last 90 days. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Lyft in the first quarter valued at $35,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lyft by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,047 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Lyft by 1,368.2% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 39,641 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 36,941 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Lyft by 70.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 146,038 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 60,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC acquired a new stake in Lyft in the first quarter valued at approximately $121,000. 83.07% of the stock is 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.