Lyft Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 57,454 call options on the company. This is an increase of 32% compared to the average daily volume of 43,519 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Nomura Securities upgraded Lyft from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Lyft from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Lyft in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Lyft from $23.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 4,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $50,916.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 760,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,121,068. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 4,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $50,916.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 760,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,121,068. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Logan Green sold 10,323 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total transaction of $119,953.26. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,843,779.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,664 shares of company stock valued at $380,048 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 277.8% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Lyft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the second quarter worth $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lyft in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Lyft Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ LYFT traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $13.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,977,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,880,505. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of -29.30 and a beta of 2.04. Lyft has a 1 year low of $8.85 and a 1 year high of $20.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.95.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05. Lyft had a negative return on equity of 8.57% and a negative net margin of 1.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Lyft will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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.