Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Up 6.5% – Should You Buy?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s stock price traded up 6.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $70.45 and last traded at $69.82. 3,446,957 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 4,350,811 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research upgraded Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $37.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.80.

Upstart Stock Down 2.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.94 and a beta of 2.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.41 and its 200-day moving average is $50.78.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.31). The company had revenue of $162.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.94 million. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.57% and a negative net margin of 30.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.48) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $77,550.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 334,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,272,608.10. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,411 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.36, for a total value of $109,154.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,438,586.56. This trade represents a 7.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 392,535 shares of company stock worth $26,968,327 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart in the third quarter valued at $334,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Upstart by 94.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 55,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 26,917 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $939,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Upstart during the third quarter valued at approximately $676,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Upstart by 63.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 725,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,031,000 after buying an additional 282,481 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.