Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Trading Down 4.6% – Time to Sell?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares fell 4.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $62.81 and last traded at $63.48. 1,052,195 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 4,001,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UPST. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC raised Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush raised their price target on Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.80.

Upstart Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of -34.30 and a beta of 2.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.70.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.31). Upstart had a negative net margin of 30.15% and a negative return on equity of 32.57%. The company had revenue of $162.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.48) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Upstart news, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.59, for a total transaction of $37,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,710.99. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total transaction of $2,608,354.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,138 shares in the company, valued at $3,576,838.80. The trade was a 42.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 391,035 shares of company stock valued at $26,890,777 in the last ninety days. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Upstart in the third quarter worth about $35,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Upstart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Upstart by 125.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Upstart during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.