BTIG Research Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BTIG Research in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on UPST. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Upstart from $81.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Upstart from $78.00 to $54.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $93.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upstart presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.33.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of UPST stock opened at $46.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -578.00 and a beta of 2.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.05. Upstart has a one year low of $31.40 and a one year high of $96.43.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. Upstart had a negative net margin of 0.75% and a negative return on equity of 5.95%. The firm had revenue of $257.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 101.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In related news, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $34,605.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,760,287.14. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,473 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.12, for a total transaction of $823,469.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 297,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,207,892.48. This trade represents a 4.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 106,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,803,558 in the last quarter. 16.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Upstart by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Upstart by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Upstart by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Upstart by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in Upstart by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.