Upstart Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:UPST)

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 106,060 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 56% compared to the average daily volume of 68,197 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 3,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.35, for a total value of $128,894.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,358,985.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 3,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.35, for a total value of $128,894.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,358,985.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chief Legal Officer Scott Darling sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $405,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 164,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,419,150. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,959 shares of company stock worth $6,042,324. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Upstart by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 573,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,420,000 after purchasing an additional 17,463 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Upstart in the fourth quarter worth $219,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Upstart by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new position in Upstart during the fourth quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter worth about $19,017,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Upstart in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Upstart from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $22.50 to $25.50 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.45.

Upstart Trading Down 0.6 %

UPST opened at $39.74 on Friday. Upstart has a 12-month low of $19.84 and a 12-month high of $49.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $34.31 and its 200 day moving average is $27.86. The company has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.29 and a beta of 2.03.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.22. The company had revenue of $127.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.55 million. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.01% and a negative net margin of 38.05%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.34) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Upstart will post -2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions.