Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Lyft Call Options (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 322,281 call options on the company. This is an increase of 466% compared to the average daily volume of 56,930 call options.

Lyft Trading Up 13.1%

Shares of LYFT stock opened at $22.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $9.66 and a fifty-two week high of $23.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.39.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released 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). Lyft had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 1.51%.The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. Lyft’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Erin Brewer sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total transaction of $228,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 540,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,241,167.16. This trade represents a 2.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John David Risher bought 5,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $100,030.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,797,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,137,850.08. This trade represents a 0.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,427 shares of company stock worth $1,252,686 in the last quarter. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LYFT. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lyft by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 24,441 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Lyft by 4.0% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 23,344 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in Lyft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 24,688 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Lyft by 11.3% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 9,025 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lyft by 39.4% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,107 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Lyft from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Lyft from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Lyft from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Lyft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lyft has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.33.

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.