Traders Purchase Large Volume of Upstart Call Options (NASDAQ:UPST)

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 120,071 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 59% compared to the average daily volume of 75,643 call options.

Upstart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPST traded up $21.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.31. 21,967,101 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,702,410. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.99. The company has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.50 and a beta of 1.97. Upstart has a 52 week low of $19.84 and a 52 week high of $79.64.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $127.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.55 million. Upstart had a negative net margin of 38.05% and a negative return on equity of 32.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.34) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In other Upstart news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $48,487.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $942,006.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Upstart news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $48,487.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $942,006.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott Darling sold 84,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,201,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,043 shares in the company, valued at $7,605,190.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,959 shares of company stock valued at $13,724,175 in the last quarter. Insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 125.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Upstart during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Upstart in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upstart in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Upstart by 1,424.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UPST shares. Piper Sandler raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on Upstart from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $56.00 to $87.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Upstart from $33.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upstart has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

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.