Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $65.14, but opened at $67.74. Upstart shares last traded at $71.27, with a volume of 2,212,636 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on UPST. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $31.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.80.

Upstart Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.25 and a beta of 2.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.10.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.31). Upstart had a negative net margin of 30.15% and a negative return on equity of 32.57%. The business had revenue of $162.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.48) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In other Upstart news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.54, for a total value of $119,310.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 331,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,335,137.22. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total transaction of $2,608,354.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,576,838.80. The trade was a 42.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 349,368 shares of company stock worth $24,176,172. 18.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UPST. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Upstart by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of Upstart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,386,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Upstart by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Upstart by 5.1% during the third quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 5,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Upstart by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.