Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $59.07, but opened at $62.51. Upstart shares last traded at $63.40, with a volume of 3,212,256 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on UPST. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Stephens initiated coverage on Upstart in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America upgraded Upstart from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Upstart in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.42.

Upstart Trading Up 8.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.41 and a beta of 2.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.18.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $213.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.08 million. Upstart had a negative net margin of 9.20% and a negative return on equity of 15.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 67.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.31) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In related news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.19, for a total transaction of $59,214.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,623 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,090.37. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,512 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.97, for a total transaction of $634,658.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 311,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,624,391.32. This trade represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,783 shares of company stock worth $3,257,814. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Upstart by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 23.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.