Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Trading 4.5% Higher - Here's What Happened

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) shares shot up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $52.93 and last traded at $52.35. 6,908,373 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 6,642,170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Upstart from $108.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Upstart from $70.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Upstart from $105.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. B. Riley upgraded shares of Upstart from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.42.

Upstart Stock Up 7.0 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.33. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of -34.02 and a beta of 2.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 16,070 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 295,537 shares in the company, valued at $23,353,333.74. The trade was a 5.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,524 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total value of $357,441.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,157,032.14. This represents a 7.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,395 shares of company stock valued at $2,638,828 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Upstart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,511 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Upstart by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of Upstart by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,386,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Upstart by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 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.