Wall Street Zen Upgrades Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Upstart from “Sell” to “Hold,” while overall analyst sentiment remains mixed: eight analysts rate it a Buy, six a Hold and two a Sell. The consensus price target is $44.40.
• Upstart shares opened at $31.09, near their 50- and 200-day moving averages, with a market capitalization of approximately $3.03 billion. The stock has traded between $23.97 and $76.95 over the past year.
• The company’s latest quarterly revenue rose 41.9% year over year to $364.71 million, exceeding estimates, although earnings per share of $0.16 missed expectations. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the stock, while recent insider activity included purchases by CEO Paul Gu and sales by other insiders.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Upstart from $66.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.40.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of UPST stock opened at $31.09 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.29. Upstart has a 1-year low of $23.97 and a 1-year high of $76.95.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $364.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.74 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 4.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 41.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Upstart will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sanjay Datta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total value of $456,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 313,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,535,237.96. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul Gu bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.50 per share, for a total transaction of $1,375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 70,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,000. This trade represents a 250.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 33,346 shares of company stock worth $991,672 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 17.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Upstart by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,615 shares of the company's stock worth $183,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554,591 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Upstart during the 4th quarter valued at $49,915,000. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Upstart by 253.3% during the 1st quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 1,467,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,039 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter valued at $38,580,000. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter worth $33,188,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upstart Company Profile

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.

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