Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.40.

A number of research firms recently commented on UPST. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price objective on Upstart in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Upstart from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Upstart from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th.

Upstart Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of UPST stock opened at $29.08 on Friday. Upstart has a 12 month low of $23.97 and a 12 month high of $76.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.29.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.02). Upstart had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The company had revenue of $364.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $354.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Upstart’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Upstart will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Upstart news, CFO Andrea Blankmeyer sold 7,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.36, for a total transaction of $210,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 155,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,556,906.88. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Sanjay Datta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total transaction of $456,150.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 313,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,535,237.96. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 47,652 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,230 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 17.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Maxi Investments CY Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Upstart in the second quarter worth about $6,852,000. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Upstart by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 415,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,162,000 after acquiring an additional 209,915 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Upstart during the fourth quarter worth about $38,580,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Upstart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,915,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 373,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,579,000 after purchasing an additional 54,908 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Upstart

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.