Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $70.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $12.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. B. Riley raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush lifted their target price on Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.92.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPST opened at $82.42 on Friday. Upstart has a 12-month low of $20.60 and a 12-month high of $96.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.22.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.57% and a negative net margin of 30.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that Upstart will post -2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,138 shares in the company, valued at $3,576,838.80. The trade was a 42.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 18,619 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.82, for a total value of $1,299,978.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 310,974 shares in the company, valued at $21,712,204.68. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 241,201 shares of company stock worth $17,003,724 in the last three months. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 300.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,061,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,357,000 after buying an additional 796,252 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 153.2% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,246,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,886,000 after buying an additional 754,416 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Upstart during the fourth quarter valued at $43,697,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 886.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 709,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,695,000 after buying an additional 637,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 689.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 589,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,566,000 after buying an additional 514,400 shares in 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.