Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Upgraded to “Buy” at Needham & Company LLC

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) was upgraded by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $100.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.40% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on UPST. Citigroup upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $87.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.80.

Upstart Trading Up 9.6 %

Upstart stock opened at $84.46 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.16. Upstart has a 52 week low of $20.60 and a 52 week high of $88.95.

Insider Activity at Upstart

In other Upstart news, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $2,714,605.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,512 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,506.80. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.42, for a total transaction of $51,630.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 343,093 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,261.06. This represents a 0.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 534,868 shares of company stock worth $32,864,764. Corporate insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart during the third quarter worth about $334,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its stake in Upstart by 94.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 55,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 26,917 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Upstart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $939,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Upstart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $676,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $29,031,000 after buying an additional 282,481 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.