Needham & Company LLC Upgrades Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) to Buy

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) was upgraded by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $100.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.40% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.80.

Upstart Trading Up 9.6 %

Shares of UPST opened at $84.46 on Friday. Upstart has a fifty-two week low of $20.60 and a fifty-two week high of $88.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.54, for a total value of $119,310.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 331,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,335,137.22. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 87,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.39, for a total transaction of $6,078,564.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 863,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,888,080.35. This trade represents a 9.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 534,868 shares of company stock valued at $32,864,764. Corporate insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Upstart by 144.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Upstart by 15.9% during the second quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 9,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Upstart by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 272,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,427,000 after purchasing an additional 36,206 shares in the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its stake in Upstart by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 290,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,841,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Upstart by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 59,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.