Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Stock Price Up 8.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s share price was up 8.3% during mid-day trading 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. Approximately 3,046,386 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 6,009,632 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.42.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BTIG Research raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Upstart from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Paul Gu sold 87,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.39, for a total value of $6,078,564.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 863,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,888,080.35. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total value of $2,608,354.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,576,838.80. This represents a 42.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,197 shares of company stock worth $15,190,101 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Upstart during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Upstart by 24.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in Upstart during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Upstart Trading Up 5.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.02 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.46.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its 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 return on equity of 32.57% and a negative net margin of 30.15%. Research analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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.