Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Down 4.6% – Time to Sell?

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares fell 4.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $62.81 and last traded at $63.48. 1,052,195 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 4,001,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on UPST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded Upstart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $56.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.80.

Upstart Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.91. The company has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.55 and a beta of 2.26.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $162.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.94 million. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 32.57% and a negative net margin of 30.15%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.48) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.54, for a total value of $119,310.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 331,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,335,137.22. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total transaction of $2,608,354.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,138 shares in the company, valued at $3,576,838.80. The trade was a 42.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 391,035 shares of company stock worth $26,890,777. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Upstart by 5.1% during the third quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 5,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 835 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.