Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Raised to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $12.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 15.07% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on UPST. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Upstart currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.92.

Upstart Stock Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:UPST opened at $82.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.70 and a beta of 2.25. Upstart has a 1-year low of $20.60 and a 1-year high of $96.43.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative net margin of 30.15% and a negative return on equity of 32.57%. Equities analysts predict that Upstart will post -2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Upstart news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.79, for a total value of $305,261.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,661.02. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 4,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $301,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 863,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,729,875. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 241,201 shares of company stock valued at $17,003,724 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Upstart in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Upstart by 125.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is 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.