Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Trading 8.3% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s stock price shot up 8.3% on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $93.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Upstart traded as high as $88.15 and last traded at $89.24. 3,046,386 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 6,009,632 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.42.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $57.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 18,619 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.82, for a total value of $1,299,978.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 310,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,712,204.68. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,511 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $105,543.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,488.95. This trade represents a 7.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 239,701 shares of company stock valued at $16,900,884 over the last 90 days. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 145,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,973,000 after acquiring an additional 35,315 shares during the period. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $332,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Upstart by 190.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,709,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,242,000 after buying an additional 1,120,300 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,922,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,385,000 after buying an additional 321,366 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Upstart Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.97 and a beta of 2.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $68.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.01.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative net margin of 30.15% and a negative return on equity of 32.57%. As a group, analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 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.