Upstart Holdings, Inc. $UPST Stake Decreased by Fred Alger Management LLC

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management cut its Upstart stake by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 121,438 shares and leaving it with 1,006,130 shares valued at about $44 million.
• Upstart reported mixed quarterly results: revenue rose 44.3% year over year to $308.21 million, but EPS came in at -$0.07 versus the $0.39 consensus estimate.
• The company also has a $100 million share buyback in place, while analysts remain split overall with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.73.

Fred Alger Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Free Report) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,006,130 shares of the company's stock after selling 121,438 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC owned 1.03% of Upstart worth $43,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Upstart during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,237,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 71.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 550,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,947,000 after buying an additional 229,315 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 31.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 971,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,370,000 after buying an additional 232,595 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 1,066.4% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 147,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,484,000 after buying an additional 134,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Upstart during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,218,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPST opened at $32.24 on Wednesday. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.97 and a 12 month high of $87.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.84, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 2.26. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $30.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.46.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.46). Upstart had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 4.34%.The firm had revenue of $308.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $301.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. Upstart's revenue for the quarter was up 44.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Upstart declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market underperform" rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Truist Financial set a $40.00 target price on Upstart in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 target price on Upstart in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on Upstart from $66.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.73.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In other Upstart news, CEO Paul Gu purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.50 per share, for a total transaction of $1,375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 70,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,000. This represents a 250.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 974 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $28,236.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 37,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,083,472.26. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 33,346 shares of company stock valued at $991,672 in the last 90 days. 17.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Upstart Profile

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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