Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) saw strong trading volume on Thursday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Morgan Stanley now has a $70.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $12.00. 10,689,789 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 87% from the previous session’s volume of 5,702,961 shares.The stock last traded at $89.37 and had previously closed at $88.77.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on UPST. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday. B. Riley upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upstart presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total transaction of $2,608,354.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,576,838.80. This trade represents a 42.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Paul Gu sold 4,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $301,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 863,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,729,875. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 241,201 shares of company stock valued at $17,003,724. Corporate insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Upstart by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,793,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,843,000 after acquiring an additional 369,640 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,846,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,711,000 after buying an additional 29,664 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Upstart by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,379,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,960,000 after buying an additional 308,200 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in Upstart by 153.2% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,246,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,886,000 after buying an additional 754,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Upstart by 300.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,061,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,357,000 after acquiring an additional 796,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Upstart Trading Down 2.1 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.22. The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of -42.70 and a beta of 2.25.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.57% and a negative net margin of 30.15%. Equities research analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.