Staley Capital Advisers Inc. Sells 58,925 Shares of Lyft, Inc. $LYFT

Staley Capital Advisers Inc. lessened its stake in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) by 39.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,048 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock after selling 58,925 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Lyft were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lyft by 68.2% during the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 594,800 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $13,092,000 after purchasing an additional 241,250 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lyft during the third quarter worth about $2,080,000. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in Lyft by 4,527.6% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 440,405 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $8,531,000 after purchasing an additional 430,888 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Lyft by 15.2% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 426,314 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $9,029,000 after purchasing an additional 56,117 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Lyft by 634.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 88,899 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 76,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LYFT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lyft from $26.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Lyft from $21.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $21.00 price objective on Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell 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 $19.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jill Beggs sold 2,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.89, for a total value of $29,071.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 32,185 shares in the company, valued at $447,049.65. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 5,284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.83, for a total transaction of $73,077.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 300,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,156,883.10. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,699 shares of company stock worth $771,756 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Lyft Stock Performance

Lyft stock opened at $12.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Lyft, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.46 and a 12-month high of $25.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.84.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.26). Lyft had a net margin of 43.82% and a negative return on equity of 2.09%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 15.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Lyft

Lyft, Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) operates a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform that connects passengers with drivers through a mobile application. Since its founding in 2012, the company has expanded beyond traditional ride-hailing to include bike and electric scooter rentals, while also offering rental cars and public transit options in select markets. Lyft’s platform uses GPS mapping and dynamic pricing algorithms to optimize driver-passenger matches and route efficiency.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Lyft primarily serves urban and suburban markets across the United States and Canada.