Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $53.69, but opened at $50.70. Upstart shares last traded at $48.06, with a volume of 1,135,148 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UPST. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. B. Riley upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on Upstart from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.38.

Upstart Stock Down 1.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.95 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.44.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In other Upstart news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total value of $2,608,354.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,138 shares in the company, valued at $3,576,838.80. This represents a 42.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 16,070 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 295,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 75,062 shares of company stock worth $5,247,182 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Upstart by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,793,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,843,000 after purchasing an additional 369,640 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Upstart by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,922,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,385,000 after buying an additional 321,366 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in Upstart by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,915,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,914,000 after buying an additional 668,282 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,846,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,711,000 after buying an additional 29,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 190.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,709,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120,300 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upstart Company Profile

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.