Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 50.09% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Upstart from $70.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Upstart from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Upstart from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Upstart from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upstart currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.81.

Upstart Trading Down 1.7%

UPST opened at $46.64 on Monday. Upstart has a 1-year low of $20.60 and a 1-year high of $96.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of -31.94 and a beta of 2.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.31.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.11. Upstart had a negative net margin of 20.20% and a negative return on equity of 25.87%. The business had revenue of $213.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.31) earnings per share. Upstart’s revenue for the quarter was up 67.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In other news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 794 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total transaction of $62,741.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,737,254.70. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 16,070 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 transaction of $1,269,851.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 295,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,353,333.74. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,395 shares of company stock worth $2,638,828 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Upstart by 70.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 74,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,412,000 after purchasing an additional 30,739 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Upstart by 52.3% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 9,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 3,118 shares in the last quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Upstart in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,841,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Upstart by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 173,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,964,000 after acquiring an additional 27,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,609,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Upstart Company Profile

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.