Cliff Asness Is Selling These 5 Stocks

4. Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) is a California-based company that offers vehicles for hire, rental cars, and food delivery services across the United States and Canada. In Q4 2020, Cliff Asness purchased shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT), and by Q3 2021, his hedge fund held 14,550 Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) shares, worth $765,000. He sold the entirety of his position in the company in Q4 2021. 

On February 8, Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) reported earnings for Q4 2021. The company posted an EPS of $0.10, beating estimates by $0.01. Revenue for the period jumped 70.19% year-on-year to approximately $970 million, surpassing estimates by $29.05 million. 

RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson on February 9 lowered the price target on Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) to $53 from $65 but kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The Q4 miss in active riders and below-consensus guidance may embolden bears, but the likely strong post-pandemic travel recovery would seem to carry a positive risk/reward on the stock, the analyst told investors in a research note.

Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in Q3 2021, 33 funds were bullish on Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT), down from 43 funds in the prior quarter. Alkeon Capital Management held the biggest stake in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) as of September 2021, with 4.72 million shares worth $253.2 million. 

Here is what ClearBridge Investments has to say about Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) in its Q2 2021 investor letter:

“We also added to our disruptors’ exposure in the second quarter with the purchase of Lyft, a leading, U.S. focused ride-hailing business. Lyft operates in a rational duopoly with Uber and has been able to maintain consistent 30%–35% market share for the past several years. The company should be a key beneficiary of the U.S. reopening, with a post-COVID-19 recovery in rideshare demand driving an acceleration in volumes and revenue. We also see considerable runway for growth beyond this rebound, as rideshare remains underpenetrated. Lyft’s ability to weather a period of significant demand destruction in 2020 is encouraging and we see opportunity for margin expansion ahead. Despite volatility created by ongoing labor negotiations, we see the potential for new, state-level legislation creating collective bargaining rights for gig economy workers to provide greater certainty around industry labor costs, with increases that should be manageable.”