Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 58,199 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Lyft by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 398,880 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $5,146,000 after acquiring an additional 49,138 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lyft by 32.4% in the fourth 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. Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth about $1,681,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Lyft by 354.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 266,185 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 207,672 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Lyft by 33.9% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In other Lyft news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the sale, the director now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,407 shares of company stock worth $203,778. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lyft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LYFT opened at $11.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.77. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 199.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15. Lyft, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.93 and a twelve month high of $20.67.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly 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, analysts predict that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on LYFT shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Lyft from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.03.

Lyft 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.