Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $84.16, but opened at $80.19. Upstart shares last traded at $85.04, with a volume of 3,601,044 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on UPST. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Upstart from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $12.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. B. Riley upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research raised shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.92.

Upstart Stock Down 2.9 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.82. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.32 and a beta of 2.25.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.56, for a total value of $102,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 329,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,896.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.79, for a total value of $305,261.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,661.02. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 241,201 shares of company stock worth $17,003,724. Corporate insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UPST. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Upstart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. raised its stake in Upstart by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 10,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Upstart by 125.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC raised its stake in Upstart by 21,610.0% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Upstart in the 3rd quarter valued at $235,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.