Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Stock Price Down 18.3% – What’s Next?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s stock price fell 18.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $39.21 and last traded at $38.92. 8,145,242 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 6,364,249 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on UPST. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised Upstart from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upstart currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.38.

Upstart Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.84 and a beta of 2.39.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In other Upstart news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total transaction of $357,441.24. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 12,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total value of $948,793.14. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,006,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,541,452.98. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 75,062 shares of company stock valued at $5,247,182. 18.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Upstart during the first quarter valued at about $846,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Upstart by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Upstart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $284,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Upstart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,900,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Upstart

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.