Mizuho Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Stock Price

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $66.00 to $51.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s target price suggests a potential upside of 95.42% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup cut Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Compass Point raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Upstart from $59.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Upstart Stock Performance

NASDAQ UPST opened at $26.10 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.77 and a 200-day moving average of $43.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 62.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.44. Upstart has a 52-week low of $24.93 and a 52-week high of $87.30.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $296.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.54 million. Upstart had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 6.30%. Upstart’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upstart declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total transaction of $238,342.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 276,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,261,903.68. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 9,481 shares of company stock worth $282,201 over the last quarter. 16.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearstead Advisors LLC bought a new position in Upstart during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 749.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 132.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc operates a cloud-based lending marketplace that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess borrower creditworthiness. The company partners with banks and credit unions, providing its proprietary AI models and underwriting platform to facilitate consumer credit products. By focusing on non‐traditional data points—such as education, employment history and other real‐time indicators—Upstart seeks to improve approval rates and lower loss rates compared with conventional credit scoring methods.

Upstart’s core offering centers on unsecured personal loans, which borrowers can use for purposes such as debt consolidation, home improvements or major purchases.