Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Takes Position in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 106,300 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,370,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Lyft during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LYFT. Loop Capital raised their target price on Lyft from $16.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Twenty-six 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.13.

Lyft Trading Up 5.8 %

NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $11.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 198.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.78. Lyft, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.93 and a 12-month high of $20.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 8.03%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lyft news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of Lyft 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,417,263.44. The trade was a 0.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of Lyft 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 sale, the director now directly owns 297,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,970,517.60. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Lyft Company Profile

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.