Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) Short Interest Down 12.9% in May

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,370,000 shares, a decline of 12.9% from the April 30th total of 23,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 26.5% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on UPST shares. B. Riley upgraded shares of Upstart from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Upstart from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Upstart from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Upstart from $105.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.19, for a total value of $59,214.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,623 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,090.37. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,512 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.97, for a total transaction of $634,658.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 311,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,624,391.32. The trade was a 4.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,116 shares of company stock valued at $753,211. 16.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Upstart by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 117,307 shares of the company's stock worth $5,400,000 after purchasing an additional 5,160 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Upstart in the 1st quarter worth about $239,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Upstart in the 1st quarter worth about $208,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Upstart by 70.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 74,134 shares of the company's stock worth $3,412,000 after purchasing an additional 30,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in Upstart by 52.3% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 9,081 shares of the company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,118 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPST traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $51.38. 4,997,123 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,748,575. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.06. The company has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of -35.19 and a beta of 2.29. Upstart has a 12 month low of $20.60 and a 12 month high of $96.43.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $213.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.08 million. Upstart had a negative net margin of 20.20% and a negative return on equity of 25.87%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 67.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.31) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Upstart

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.