Citigroup Lowers Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Price Target to $80.00

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $100.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 112.09% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Upstart from $80.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Upstart from $78.00 to $54.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Upstart from $82.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upstart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.58.

Upstart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPST opened at $37.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 171.46 and a beta of 2.26. Upstart has a 1-year low of $31.40 and a 1-year high of $96.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.77.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $257.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.35 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 3.68% and a net margin of 3.33%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 101.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In other Upstart news, CTO Paul Gu sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $343,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,147,156 shares in the company, valued at $78,706,373.16. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $34,605.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,760,287.14. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 106,214 shares of company stock worth $6,803,558 over the last 90 days. 16.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Upstart during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Upstart by 9,454.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Upstart by 72.1% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.