Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $46.65, but opened at $50.50. Upstart shares last traded at $48.37, with a volume of 1,766,317 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on UPST shares. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Upstart from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $12.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Upstart from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, B. Riley raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.38.

Upstart Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.72 and a beta of 2.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.28.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative net margin of 20.20% and a negative return on equity of 25.87%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Paul Gu sold 12,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total value of $948,793.14. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,006,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,541,452.98. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 794 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 21,985 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,254.70. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,062 shares of company stock worth $5,247,182. Insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Upstart by 190.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,709,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,242,000 after buying an additional 1,120,300 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Upstart by 300.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,061,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,357,000 after acquiring an additional 796,252 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 153.2% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,246,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,886,000 after acquiring an additional 754,416 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart during the fourth quarter worth about $43,697,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Upstart by 886.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 709,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,695,000 after purchasing an additional 637,706 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.