Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Given Hold Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lyft from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Lyft from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Lyft from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Lyft from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Lyft from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lyft has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.81.

Lyft Price Performance

LYFT opened at $14.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -89.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.51. Lyft has a 1 year low of $8.93 and a 1 year high of $20.82.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a negative return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 1.19%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the ride-sharing company to buy up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lyft news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total value of $188,352.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 314,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,424,987. This represents a 3.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter worth $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.