Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on UPST. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price objective on Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Compass Point upgraded Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Upstart from $88.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Upstart currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.50.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of Upstart stock opened at $31.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 2.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.99. Upstart has a 1 year low of $29.61 and a 1 year high of $88.69.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The business had revenue of $296.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Upstart’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In other news, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $75,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,934 shares in the company, valued at $1,196,700. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 762 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.91, for a total value of $29,649.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,027,146.18. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

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

Upstart Company Profile

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.