Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $49.70, but opened at $47.89. Upstart shares last traded at $49.16, with a volume of 668,942 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UPST shares. Wedbush increased their price objective 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. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 12th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.38.

Upstart Stock Up 4.5 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of -35.59 and a beta of 2.25.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 25.87% and a negative net margin of 20.20%. On average, analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 16,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total value of $1,269,851.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 295,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,353,333.74. The trade was a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total transaction of $357,441.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,614 shares in the company, valued at $4,157,032.14. This trade represents a 7.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,062 shares of company stock valued at $5,247,182. Corporate insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upstart in the third quarter worth $939,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Upstart in the third quarter worth $676,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter worth $2,057,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 689.5% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 589,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,566,000 after buying an additional 514,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in Upstart by 153.2% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,246,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,886,000 after purchasing an additional 754,416 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.