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

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,844,869 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,599,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Lyft by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,408,466 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $121,369,000 after buying an additional 2,302,248 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lyft by 7,536.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,830,533 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Lyft during the third quarter valued at $13,430,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lyft by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,002,611 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $464,434,000 after acquiring an additional 984,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Lyft Price Performance

LYFT opened at $10.84 on Friday. The company 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. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.93 and a 12-month high of $19.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.81.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the ride-sharing company to reacquire up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LYFT. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Benchmark raised Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lyft from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.66.

Insider Activity

In related 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 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 represents a 0.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total value of $152,222.74. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock worth $203,778. Corporate 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.