Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $84.16, but opened at $80.19. Upstart shares last traded at $85.04, with a volume of 3,601,044 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Upstart from $87.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush lifted their target price on Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Upstart from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, B. Riley raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.92.

Upstart Stock Down 2.9 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $67.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.82. The company has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.32 and a beta of 2.25.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.57% and a negative net margin of 30.15%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.56, for a total transaction of $102,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 329,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,596,896.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.79, for a total value of $305,261.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,661.02. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 241,201 shares of company stock worth $17,003,724. 18.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Upstart in the 3rd quarter valued at $334,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Upstart by 94.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 55,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 26,917 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the 3rd quarter worth $939,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the 3rd quarter worth $676,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Upstart by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 725,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,031,000 after acquiring an additional 282,481 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.