Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $50.00. The stock had previously closed at $51.40, but opened at $43.02. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Upstart shares last traded at $46.78, with a volume of 9,052,653 shares changing hands.

UPST has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Upstart from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. B. Riley raised Upstart from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In other news, CTO Paul Gu sold 12,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total transaction of $948,793.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,006,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,541,452.98. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 16,070 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total value of $1,269,851.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 295,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,353,333.74. This trade represents a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,395 shares of company stock worth $2,638,828 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UPST. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC bought a new position in Upstart during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Upstart during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Upstart by 23.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upstart Trading Down 8.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.29 and a beta of 2.39. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $47.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.43.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.11. Upstart had a negative net margin of 20.20% and a negative return on equity of 25.87%. The business had revenue of $213.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $201.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 67.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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