Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 61,309 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 33% compared to the average volume of 46,258 call options.

Upstart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of UPST opened at $27.11 on Friday. Upstart has a 52-week low of $19.84 and a 52-week high of $72.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of -13.16 and a beta of 1.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.18.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.80) by $0.06. Upstart had a negative net margin of 32.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.89%. The firm had revenue of $127.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.82 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America started coverage on Upstart in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research started coverage on Upstart in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.65.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In related news, CTO Paul Gu sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $2,361,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 893,596 shares in the company, valued at $26,378,953.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 18,138 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.61, for a total transaction of $464,514.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 382,398 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,212.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $2,361,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 893,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,378,953.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,610 shares of company stock worth $4,062,993 over the last 90 days. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Upstart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter worth $57,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Upstart by 80.6% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.