Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Upgraded at BTIG Research
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailyBTIG Research upgraded shares of Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST – Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. BTIG Research currently has $43.00 price objective on the stock.
Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on UPST. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Upstart from $59.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market underperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.77.
Read Our Latest Report on Upstart
Upstart Trading Down 7.2%
Upstart stock opened at $25.83 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.50, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.32. Upstart has a 52 week low of $25.60 and a 52 week high of $87.30.
Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $296.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.54 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.
Upstart declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Upstart news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total transaction of $238,342.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 276,688 shares in the company, valued at $8,261,903.68. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 9,481 shares of company stock worth $282,201 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,011,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,166,000 after acquiring an additional 531,000 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Upstart by 154.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554,591 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Upstart by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,068,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,469,000 after purchasing an additional 26,734 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Upstart during the fourth quarter worth about $49,915,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Upstart by 31.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 971,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,370,000 after purchasing an additional 232,595 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.
About Upstart
Upstart Holdings, Inc operates a cloud-based lending marketplace that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess borrower creditworthiness. The company partners with banks and credit unions, providing its proprietary AI models and underwriting platform to facilitate consumer credit products. By focusing on non‐traditional data points—such as education, employment history and other real‐time indicators—Upstart seeks to improve approval rates and lower loss rates compared with conventional credit scoring methods.
Upstart’s core offering centers on unsecured personal loans, which borrowers can use for purposes such as debt consolidation, home improvements or major purchases.