Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Up 6.5% – Here’s What Happened

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s stock price shot up 6.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $70.45 and last traded at $69.82. 3,446,957 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 4,350,811 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upstart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.80.

Upstart Trading Up 5.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.91 and a beta of 2.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.39 and its 200-day moving average is $50.34.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In other Upstart news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $2,714,605.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,506.80. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 87,600 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.39, for a total transaction of $6,078,564.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 863,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,888,080.35. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 392,535 shares of company stock worth $26,968,327. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Upstart during the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Upstart by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,057,000. 63.01% of the stock is 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.