Lyft Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 89,418 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof105% compared to the typical daily volume of 43,600 call options.

Lyft Price Performance

Shares of LYFT opened at $15.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.77. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $9.66 and a fifty-two week high of $19.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 65.92, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Lyft had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 1.51%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In other news, CEO John David Risher purchased 6,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.29 per share, with a total value of $99,966.02. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 11,791,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,289,588.60. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.80, for a total transaction of $38,299.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 879,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,896,068.40. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 162.6% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,943 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 81.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 1,242.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lyft from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Roth Capital raised shares of Lyft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lyft from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Lyft in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.70.

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.