Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) CEO Acquires 50,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CEO insider buying: Upstart CEO Paul Gu purchased 50,000 shares at an average price of $25.55, investing approximately $1.28 million and increasing his direct stake by 62.5% to 130,000 shares.
• Stock performance and results: Upstart shares fell 3.1% to $25.10, near their 52-week low. The company’s latest revenue rose 41.9% year over year to $364.7 million, though earnings per share of $0.16 missed analyst expectations.
• Analyst outlook remains mixed: Analysts’ consensus rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $43.75; eight rate the stock a Buy, seven a Hold, and two a Sell.

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) CEO Paul Gu bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.55 per share, for a total transaction of $1,277,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 130,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,321,500. The trade was a 62.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Upstart Stock Down 3.1%

NASDAQ UPST traded down $0.79 during trading on Thursday, hitting $25.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,111,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,980,296. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.97 and a 52 week high of $71.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.68.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP boosted its position in Upstart by 749.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 132.2% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 274.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Upstart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Upstart from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Upstart from $80.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Upstart in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Upstart currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $43.75.

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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