Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $46.65, but opened at $50.50. Upstart shares last traded at $48.37, with a volume of 1,766,317 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Upstart from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Upstart from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Upstart from $80.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.38.

Upstart Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.28. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of -31.72 and a beta of 2.25.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 25.87% and a negative net margin of 20.20%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In other Upstart news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total value of $357,441.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,157,032.14. The trade was a 7.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 794 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total value of $62,741.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,985 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,254.70. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,062 shares of company stock worth $5,247,182 over the last ninety days. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Upstart by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its position in shares of Upstart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,386,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Upstart by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 5,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.