Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Given Underperform Rating at Wedbush

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $10.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s target price points to a potential downside of 55.83% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Upstart in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Upstart from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Upstart from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPST traded down $1.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.64. The stock had a trading volume of 3,641,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,440,296. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.81 and a beta of 2.01. Upstart has a fifty-two week low of $13.00 and a fifty-two week high of $72.58.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $140.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.28 million. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 35.47% and a negative net margin of 46.76%. Equities analysts expect that Upstart will post -2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.30, for a total value of $46,631.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,246 shares in the company, valued at $686,377.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 1,919 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.30, for a total value of $46,631.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,377.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 60,000 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total value of $1,578,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 893,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,510,510.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,419 shares of company stock worth $1,750,272 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UPST. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Upstart by 7.1% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 26,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Upstart by 62.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 79,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,281,000 after purchasing an additional 30,708 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of Upstart by 26.4% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 11,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Upstart by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 248,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,080,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Upstart by 14.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.