Needham & Company LLC Increases Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Price Target to $108.00

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $100.00 to $108.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 28.33% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of UPST opened at $84.16 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.82. Upstart has a one year low of $20.60 and a one year high of $96.43. The company has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.61 and a beta of 2.25.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.56, for a total value of $102,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 329,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,896.08. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.79, for a total transaction of $305,261.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,661.02. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 241,201 shares of company stock valued at $17,003,724 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Upstart in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Upstart in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Upstart by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Upstart in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Upstart by 125.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.