Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Given “Underperform” Rating at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their underperform rating on shares of Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $10.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on UPST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Upstart from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Upstart in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued an underperform rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler restated a neutral rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Upstart from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of Upstart stock opened at $23.11 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.20. Upstart has a 12 month low of $13.00 and a 12 month high of $72.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.97 and a beta of 2.01.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by $0.05. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 35.47% and a negative net margin of 46.76%. The firm had revenue of $140.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.28 million. Analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Paul Gu sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $1,578,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 893,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,510,510.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Upstart news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.84, for a total value of $33,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 354,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,982,405.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 60,000 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $1,578,600.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 893,596 shares in the company, valued at $23,510,510.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,419 shares of company stock worth $1,750,272 in the last three months. 18.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

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