Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Sets New 12-Month High on Earnings Beat

Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $89.47 and last traded at $87.49, with a volume of 13521262 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.34.

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 net margin of 30.15% and a negative return on equity of 32.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Upstart from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Paul Gu sold 87,600 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.39, for a total transaction of $6,078,564.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 863,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,888,080.35. This trade represents a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,576,838.80. This represents a 42.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 347,868 shares of company stock worth $24,056,862 over the last three months. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Upstart in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Upstart during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upstart Stock Up 31.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.99 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.62.

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.