Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Stock Price Down 18.3% – Here’s What Happened

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares dropped 18.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $39.21 and last traded at $38.92. Approximately 8,145,242 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average daily volume of 6,364,249 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UPST. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $57.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Upstart from $13.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Upstart from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Upstart from $80.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Upstart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.38.

Upstart Stock Down 10.1 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.84 and a beta of 2.39.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 25.87% and a negative net margin of 20.20%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In related news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 794 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total value of $62,741.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,985 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,254.70. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 41,667 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.60, for a total value of $2,608,354.20. Following the sale, 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 quarter, insiders sold 75,062 shares of company stock worth $5,247,182. Insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Upstart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Upstart during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Upstart by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. 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.