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

Key Points

• Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. gapped up from a previous close of $50.80 to an opening price of $54.69, with a last traded price of $53.94, reflecting increased investor interest.
• Analysts have given mixed ratings on Upstart, with five rating the stock as a Buy, seven as a Hold, and one as a Sell, while the consensus price target stands at $81.08.
• Recent insider selling includes sales by CTO Paul Gu and CEO Dave Girouard, who decreased their stock positions significantly, which totaled approximately $10.25 million in shares sold over the last three months.

Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $50.80, but opened at $54.69. Upstart shares last traded at $53.94, with a volume of 3,906,462 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Upstart to a "sell" rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Stephens started coverage on Upstart in a report on Thursday, June 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Upstart from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.08.

Upstart Trading Up 4.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of -660.44 and a beta of 2.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.81.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $257.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.35 million. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 5.95% and a negative net margin of 0.75%.Upstart's revenue was up 101.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upstart news, CTO Paul Gu sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $343,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,147,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,706,373.16. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.93, for a total value of $2,705,438.31. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,416,227.02. The trade was a 44.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,881 shares of company stock worth $10,251,780 in the last three months. 16.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UPST. KADENSA CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,972,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 70.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 74,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,412,000 after acquiring an additional 30,739 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the 1st quarter valued at about $550,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 753.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SCS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,841,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

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.

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