Upstart Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:UPST)

Key Points

• Investors purchased a significant volume of 91,785 call options for Upstart Holdings, marking a 45% increase over the average daily volume.
• Recent analyst reports show mixed ratings for Upstart, with a consensus price target of $81.08 and a balance of five "Buy," seven "Hold," and one "Sell" ratings assigned.
• Insiders sold a notable amount of shares recently, including CTO Paul Gu selling 5,000 shares valued at over $343,000, amid increasing institutional interests in the company.

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 91,785 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 45% compared to the average daily volume of 63,395 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Upstart to a "sell" rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Upstart in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Upstart from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Upstart from $88.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.12, for a total transaction of $823,469.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 297,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,207,892.48. This represents a 4.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.93, for a total transaction of $2,705,438.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,416,227.02. This represents a 44.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 158,414 shares of company stock valued at $10,709,482. Corporate insiders own 16.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Upstart by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,014,656 shares of the company's stock worth $368,915,000 after purchasing an additional 221,204 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Upstart by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,009,116 shares of the company's stock worth $129,965,000 after purchasing an additional 73,582 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Upstart by 79.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,270,352 shares of the company's stock worth $58,474,000 after purchasing an additional 560,668 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Upstart by 71.5% during the 1st quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,215,237 shares of the company's stock worth $55,937,000 after purchasing an additional 506,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Upstart by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,197,966 shares of the company's stock worth $55,143,000 after purchasing an additional 44,635 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Upstart Price Performance

Upstart stock traded down $2.99 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $64.90. The company had a trading volume of 8,011,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,599,121. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -811.25 and a beta of 2.37. The firm's fifty day moving average is $71.19 and its 200-day moving average is $58.51. Upstart has a fifty-two week low of $31.40 and a fifty-two week high of $96.43.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $257.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.35 million. Upstart had a negative net margin of 0.75% and a negative return on equity of 5.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 101.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. Upstart has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Upstart Company Profile

Upstart Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions.