Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Given Underperform Rating at Wedbush

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating restated by investment analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $10.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush’s price objective points to a potential downside of 55.83% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on UPST. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Upstart from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Mizuho upped their target price on Upstart from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPST traded down $1.83 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.64. 3,641,106 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,440,296. Upstart has a 1 year low of $13.00 and a 1 year high of $72.58. The company has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.81 and a beta of 2.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.20.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.05. Upstart had a negative net margin of 46.76% and a negative return on equity of 35.47%. The firm had revenue of $140.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.28 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Upstart will post -2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In related news, CTO Paul Gu sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $1,578,600.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 893,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,510,510.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Upstart news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $27,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 400,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,014,740. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total value of $1,578,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 893,596 shares in the company, valued at $23,510,510.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,419 shares of company stock valued at $1,750,272 over the last quarter. Insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,856,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,676,000 after purchasing an additional 87,832 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 79,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,262,000 after purchasing an additional 21,668 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 11,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 718,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,513,000 after purchasing an additional 8,091 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Upstart in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,529,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.