Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on UPST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Upstart from $88.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Monday, December 29th. Compass Point raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on Upstart from $55.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned 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 an average target price of $49.50.

Upstart Trading Down 3.9%

UPST stock opened at $30.29 on Tuesday. Upstart has a 1-year low of $29.61 and a 1-year high of $87.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.67 and its 200-day moving average is $50.99. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 2.38.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.02. Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The business had revenue of $296.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Upstart’s revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In other news, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $75,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,196,700. This represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.91, for a total value of $29,649.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,027,146.18. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UPST. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Upstart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,011,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,166,000 after buying an additional 531,000 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 154.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554,591 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Upstart by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,068,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,469,000 after acquiring an additional 26,734 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Upstart during the 4th quarter valued at $49,915,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Upstart by 31.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 971,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,370,000 after purchasing an additional 232,595 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Upstart Company Profile

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.