Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $48.10, but opened at $50.01. Upstart shares last traded at $50.15, with a volume of 535,656 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Upstart from $93.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised shares of Upstart from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Upstart from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $12.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.54.

Upstart Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.96 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.19 and a 200-day moving average of $60.42.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 25.87% and a negative net margin of 20.20%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total value of $357,441.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,157,032.14. The trade was a 7.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 16,070 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 value of $1,269,851.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 295,537 shares in the company, valued at $23,353,333.74. The trade was a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,395 shares of company stock worth $2,638,828 over the last three months. 16.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Upstart by 1,413.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 333,463 shares of the company's stock worth $13,342,000 after purchasing an additional 311,434 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Upstart by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $313,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Upstart by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,721 shares of the company's stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.