Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Upstart, with one sell, eight hold, and eight buy recommendations. The average 12-month price target is $43.75.
• Upstart’s latest quarter showed revenue growth of 41.9% year over year to $364.71 million, exceeding estimates, though earnings per share of $0.16 fell short of expectations.
• Insider activity was mixed: an insider sold 116,000 shares, while CEO Paul Gu purchased 50,000 shares. Institutional investors own approximately 63.01% of the company.

Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.75.

UPST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Loop Capital began coverage on Upstart in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Upstart from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Upstart from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sanjay Datta sold 116,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.29, for a total transaction of $3,165,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 476,578 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,813.62. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul Gu purchased 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.55 per share, for a total transaction of $1,277,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 130,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,321,500. This trade represents a 62.50% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,652 shares of company stock worth $4,133,720. Corporate insiders own 17.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart during the second quarter worth about $254,000. Gemmer Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Upstart by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 29,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 4,314 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Upstart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $248,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Upstart in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,074,000. Finally, Amundi acquired a new stake in Upstart in the 2nd quarter worth about $348,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Upstart Price Performance

UPST opened at $24.85 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.60. Upstart has a 1 year low of $23.97 and a 1 year high of $71.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.16.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.02). Upstart had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The firm had revenue of $364.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 41.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Upstart will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Upstart Company Profile

Upstart Holdings, Inc is a financial technology company that operates an artificial intelligence-powered lending marketplace. Its platform connects consumers seeking credit with banks and credit unions, using alternative data and machine-learning models alongside traditional credit information to help lending partners evaluate applicants and originate loans.

The company's offerings include technology for personal lending, auto lending and home equity lending. Upstart provides tools that support the application, underwriting and loan-origination process, while participating financial institutions generally fund and service the loans.

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