Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Upstart Holdings, Inc. experienced a stock price increase after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded its rating from neutral to overweight, resulting in a gap up from $61.59 to $63.31 in pre-trading.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.36, exceeding estimates of $0.27, with revenues up 101.6% year-over-year, indicating strong growth.
• Institutional investors own 63.01% of Upstart's shares, with a mix of ratings from analysts, including six buy ratings, seven holds, and one sell.

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $61.59, but opened at $63.31. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $88.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $93.00. Upstart shares last traded at $61.23, with a volume of 2,084,860 shares changing hands.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on UPST. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Upstart to a "sell" rating and set a $71.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Upstart from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In other news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.27, for a total transaction of $2,636,271.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,328,887.78. This represents a 44.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $320,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 24,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,971,563.61. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,041 shares of company stock valued at $11,631,576 in the last quarter. 16.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Upstart during the first quarter valued at approximately $550,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 482.3% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 2,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 2,392 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Upstart by 175.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the company's stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 8,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upstart during the first quarter worth about $1,712,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Upstart Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -765.13 and a beta of 2.39. The stock's fifty day moving average is $70.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.03.

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

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