Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Trading 8% Higher – Here’s Why

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s stock price shot up 8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.09 and last traded at $37.60. 4,878,647 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 6,428,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on UPST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $57.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Upstart from $80.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. B. Riley raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.38.

Upstart Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.32 and a 200 day moving average of $60.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.88 and a beta of 2.39.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 25.87% and a negative net margin of 20.20%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 794 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total transaction of $62,741.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,985 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,254.70. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,524 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total value of $357,441.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,157,032.14. The trade was a 7.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 75,062 shares of company stock worth $5,247,182. Company insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 36.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 1,792 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Upstart in the third quarter worth $35,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Upstart by 95.2% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 47,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 23,073 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Upstart in the third quarter valued at $273,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Upstart by 8.3% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 78,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 6,083 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.