Norges Bank Takes $49.60 Million Position in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,844,869 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,599,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.93% of Lyft at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lyft by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,002,611 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $464,434,000 after buying an additional 984,907 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lyft by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,408,466 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $121,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302,248 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Lyft by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,878,369 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $50,031,000 after purchasing an additional 981,186 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Lyft by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,290,461 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $29,547,000 after purchasing an additional 468,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 7,536.2% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,854,823 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $23,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830,533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $30,348.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 911,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,417,263.44. This represents a 0.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total value of $152,222.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 297,640 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lyft Price Performance

NASDAQ LYFT opened at $10.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.67, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.13. Lyft, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.93 and a 1-year high of $19.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.81.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Lyft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to buy up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LYFT shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Lyft from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lyft from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Lyft from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.66.

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.