Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Trading 6.5% Higher – Here’s Why

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s share price traded up 6.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $72.77 and last traded at $73.30. 1,471,899 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 3,881,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on UPST. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. B. Riley raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.82.

Upstart Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.89 and a beta of 2.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.38.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.57% and a negative net margin of 30.15%. On average, research analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upstart news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total transaction of $2,608,354.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,576,838.80. The trade was a 42.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 65,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.58, for a total transaction of $4,327,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 878,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,494,857.70. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 347,868 shares of company stock valued at $24,056,862. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Upstart by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Upstart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,386,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Upstart by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upstart by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 5,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Upstart Company Profile

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.