Upstart Holdings, Inc. $UPST is Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.'s 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Halter Ferguson Financial boosted its Upstart position by 253.3% in Q1, making UPST its 3rd-largest holding and about 8.3% of the portfolio.
• Wall Street remains split on the stock: analysts currently have a Hold consensus with a $44.93 average price target, alongside a mix of buy, hold, and sell ratings.
• Upstart reported revenue growth of 44.3% year over year, but earnings missed estimates, posting -$0.07 EPS versus the expected $0.39.

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Free Report) by 253.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,467,360 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,052,039 shares during the period. Upstart accounts for approximately 8.3% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. owned 1.53% of Upstart worth $37,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Upstart during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 749.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Upstart by 132.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Upstart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on UPST shares. 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. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup restated a "market underperform" rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Upstart from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Mizuho set a $45.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.93.

Upstart Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ UPST opened at $34.33 on Tuesday. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.97 and a twelve month high of $87.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 2.26.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $308.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $301.30 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 4.34%.The business's revenue was up 44.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Upstart news, Director Dave Girouard acquired 170,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.37 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,948.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,512,941 shares in the company, valued at $250,025,077.17. This trade represents a 2.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrea Blankmeyer sold 7,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total transaction of $208,713.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 162,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,811,408.29. The trade was a 4.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 33,346 shares of company stock worth $991,672 over the last 90 days. 17.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc operates a cloud-based lending marketplace that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess borrower creditworthiness. The company partners with banks and credit unions, providing its proprietary AI models and underwriting platform to facilitate consumer credit products. By focusing on non‐traditional data points—such as education, employment history and other real‐time indicators—Upstart seeks to improve approval rates and lower loss rates compared with conventional credit scoring methods.

Upstart's core offering centers on unsecured personal loans, which borrowers can use for purposes such as debt consolidation, home improvements or major purchases.

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