Mizuho Lowers Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Price Target to $51.00

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $66.00 to $51.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 95.42% from the company’s previous close.

UPST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Compass Point raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $44.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Upstart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Upstart Price Performance

UPST opened at $26.10 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.87. Upstart has a 1 year low of $24.93 and a 1 year high of $87.30.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $296.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Upstart’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Upstart will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upstart declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upstart news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total transaction of $238,342.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 276,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,261,903.68. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 9,481 shares of company stock worth $282,201 in the last 90 days. 16.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Clearstead Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Upstart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Upstart by 749.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 132.2% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Upstart by 72.1% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.