Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Stephens lowered their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $40.00. The stock had previously closed at $46.24, but opened at $39.38. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Upstart shares last traded at $40.1580, with a volume of 6,051,792 shares trading hands.

UPST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Upstart from $81.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research note on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Upstart from $82.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.12, for a total transaction of $823,469.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 297,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,207,892.48. The trade was a 4.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 500 shares of the business’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 directly owned 25,434 shares in the company, valued at $1,760,287.14. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 106,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,803,558. 16.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 9,454.5% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Upstart by 24.6% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Upstart by 7.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Upstart in the third quarter valued at $808,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Upstart by 1.5% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upstart Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of -502.39 and a beta of 2.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.05.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $257.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 101.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upstart Company Profile

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.