Insider Selling: Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Insider Sells $229,728.45 in Stock

Key Points

• Upstart insider Sanjay Datta sold 7,985 shares on May 20 at an average price of $28.77, totaling about $229,728. The sale reduced his direct holdings by 2.37% and was made to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards.
• The company’s latest earnings were mixed: Upstart reported a loss of $0.07 per share, missing analyst expectations, while revenue came in at $308.21 million and rose 44.3% year over year. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.92 per share for the full year.
• Investor sentiment remains cautious amid ongoing securities class action reminders and a recent wave of analyst updates. Upstart also has a $100 million share buyback authorization in place, which management may view as a sign the stock is undervalued.

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) insider Sanjay Datta sold 7,985 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.77, for a total transaction of $229,728.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 328,556 shares in the company, valued at $9,452,556.12. This represents a 2.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Sanjay Datta also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, Sanjay Datta sold 1,817 shares of Upstart stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.56, for a total value of $53,710.52.

Upstart Stock Performance

Shares of Upstart stock traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $28.56. 3,230,409 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,984,982. The company's 50-day moving average is $28.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.26. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.97 and a 1-year high of $87.30.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $308.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.30 million. Upstart had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 5.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 44.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Upstart announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Upstart News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms, including Faruqi & Faruqi, The Schall Law Firm, Rosen, Robbins, Pomerantz, Bronstein Gewirtz & Grossman, Bernstein Liebhard, SueWallSt, and Bragar Eagel & Squire, issued reminders or alerts about the ongoing Upstart securities fraud class action and the approaching June 8 deadline. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz and other firms said the lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors who bought Upstart shares during the class period, alleging harm from the company’s disclosures and naming certain officers as defendants. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: More legal follow-through from investor-rights firms suggests the litigation remains active and could keep sentiment cautious around Upstart in the near term. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Upstart also announced upcoming fireside chats for its CFO and CEO at the Mizuho Technology Conference and Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference, which could provide a near-term update on strategy and fundamentals. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A commentary piece argued Upstart still has an AI-lending “moonshot” case, noting elevated short interest and ongoing debate over the company’s growth outlook. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Upstart from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Upstart from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial set a $40.00 price objective on Upstart in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market underperform" rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Upstart from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.79.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

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

Upstart Company 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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