Upstart Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:UPST)

Key Points

• Traders bought an unusually large number of calls on Upstart—45,688 call options, about 61% above the average call volume—signaling elevated bullish/options speculation interest.
• Shares rallied ~12.0% to $33.06 on the news, with volume slightly above average; the company also authorized a $100 million share buyback (up to ~3.2% of shares outstanding).
• CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares (a 2.8% reduction), insiders sold 9,481 shares in the quarter, and analysts remain mixed with a consensus "Hold" rating and $48 average price target.

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 45,688 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 61% compared to the average volume of 28,443 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total value of $238,342.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 276,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,261,903.68. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 9,481 shares of company stock valued at $282,201 over the last quarter. Insiders own 16.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPST. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Upstart by 89.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 96,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,451,000 after purchasing an additional 45,664 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Upstart by 13.8% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Upstart by 20.0% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Upstart by 18.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 173,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Upstart in the first quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on UPST. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Upstart from a "buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Upstart from $59.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Upstart from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $44.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Upstart News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded Upstart from "strong sell" to "hold," a catalyst that can prompt some buying from discretionary and systematic funds that follow upgrades. Zacks Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish press narratives about Upstart’s AI-driven lending and its plans for an AI-powered bank are drawing investor attention and supporting sentiment about long-term growth potential. Fool: AI Stock Prediction
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage noting recent intraday gains and trending status amplifies momentum trading interest but does not change fundamentals by itself. Yahoo Finance: UPST Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have filed or publicized class-action notices alleging securities fraud for purchases between May 14, 2025 and Nov 4, 2025; plaintiffs claim Upstart misrepresented AI model calibration and conversion impacts. This legal overhang can increase regulatory/legal costs, distract management, and weigh on sentiment. Investors are being invited to seek lead-plaintiff status with a June 8, 2026 deadline. Faruqi & Faruqi Notice Levi & Korsinsky Alert Rosen Law Firm Notice

Upstart Stock Up 12.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPST traded up $3.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.06. 5,151,136 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,005,600. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 78.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.16. Upstart has a fifty-two week low of $23.97 and a fifty-two week high of $87.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.99.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $296.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.54 million. Upstart had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Upstart will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Upstart declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc operates a cloud-based lending marketplace that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess borrower creditworthiness. The company partners with banks and credit unions, providing its proprietary AI models and underwriting platform to facilitate consumer credit products. By focusing on non‐traditional data points—such as education, employment history and other real‐time indicators—Upstart seeks to improve approval rates and lower loss rates compared with conventional credit scoring methods.

Upstart's core offering centers on unsecured personal loans, which borrowers can use for purposes such as debt consolidation, home improvements or major purchases.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.