Upstart Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:UPST)

26 Mar 2026, 16:42 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST – Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 52,021 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 81% compared to the average volume of 28,781 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UPST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Compass Point raised shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Truist Financial cut their price target 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. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Upstart from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $44.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on UPST

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total value of $238,342.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 276,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,261,903.68. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,481 shares of company stock valued at $282,201. Insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Upstart by 3.3% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Upstart by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in Upstart by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Upstart by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 76,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,939,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Upstart Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:UPST traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $25.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,260,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,199,303. The company has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.59, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.44. Upstart has a 12 month low of $24.93 and a 12 month high of $87.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.87.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.02. Upstart had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The firm had revenue of $296.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Upstart will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Upstart announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Upstart Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.