Needham & Company LLC Lowers Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Price Target to $56.00

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $82.00 to $56.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 21.11% from the company’s current price.

UPST has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Upstart from $88.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a report on Monday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Upstart from $78.00 to $54.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.33.

Upstart Price Performance

UPST stock opened at $46.24 on Wednesday. Upstart has a 1 year low of $31.40 and a 1 year high of $96.43. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -578.00 and a beta of 2.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $57.61 and a 200 day moving average of $60.05.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. Upstart had a negative net margin of 0.75% and a negative return on equity of 5.95%. The company had revenue of $257.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Upstart’s revenue was up 101.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Upstart will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $99,593.19. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,081 shares in the company, valued at $1,459,016.01. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.12, for a total transaction of $823,469.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 297,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,207,892.48. The trade was a 4.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 106,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,803,558. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPST. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Upstart by 23.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Upstart by 51.8% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Upstart during the first quarter valued at approximately $550,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Upstart by 1,675.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 118,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,463,000 after purchasing an additional 112,002 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Upstart by 76.3% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 2,779 shares during the period. 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.