Upstart Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:UPST)

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 106,060 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 56% compared to the average daily volume of 68,197 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In other news, CTO Paul Gu sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.86, for a total transaction of $1,838,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 878,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,898,165.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.42, for a total value of $51,630.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 343,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,261.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.86, for a total value of $1,838,700.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 878,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,898,165.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 160,959 shares of company stock valued at $6,042,324 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Anfield Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Upstart by 80.6% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 259.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Upstart during the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its position in Upstart by 144.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upstart Stock Up 4.6 %

Shares of Upstart stock traded up $1.75 on Thursday, hitting $40.06. The stock had a trading volume of 9,550,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,605,581. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.68. Upstart has a one year low of $19.84 and a one year high of $49.62. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.60 and a beta of 2.03.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $127.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.55 million. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.01% and a negative net margin of 38.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.34) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Upstart will post -2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPST has been the subject of several analyst reports. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Upstart in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “sell” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Upstart from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Upstart from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $22.50 to $25.50 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.75.

Upstart Company Profile

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.