Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Reaches New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $89.47 and last traded at $87.49, with a volume of 13521262 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $67.34.

The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative net margin of 30.15% and a negative return on equity of 32.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on UPST shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. B. Riley raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Upstart from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Paul Gu sold 65,000 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.58, for a total transaction of $4,327,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 878,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,494,857.70. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $2,725,438.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,023,499.92. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 347,868 shares of company stock valued at $24,056,862 in the last quarter. Insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in Upstart in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 125.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Upstart Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.38. The stock has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.98 and a beta of 2.25.

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.