Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $49.70, but opened at $47.89. Upstart shares last traded at $49.16, with a volume of 668,942 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Upstart from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upstart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.38.

Upstart Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $64.09 and its 200 day moving average is $59.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.59 and a beta of 2.25.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 20.20% and a negative return on equity of 25.87%. As a group, analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total transaction of $2,608,354.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,576,838.80. The trade was a 42.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 16,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total transaction of $1,269,851.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 295,537 shares in the company, valued at $23,353,333.74. The trade was a 5.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,062 shares of company stock valued at $5,247,182 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UPST. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the third quarter worth approximately $654,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Upstart by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 145,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,837,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Upstart by 1,424.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the third quarter worth approximately $939,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.