Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Rating Increased to Buy at B. Riley

B. Riley upgraded shares of Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $105.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $49.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on UPST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of 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 research note on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup raised Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $56.00 to $87.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Upstart from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.08.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of UPST opened at $88.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.62. Upstart has a 1 year low of $20.60 and a 1 year high of $90.44.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Upstart will post -2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Paul Gu sold 87,600 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.39, for a total transaction of $6,078,564.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 863,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,888,080.35. The trade was a 9.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.56, for a total value of $102,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 329,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,896.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 347,868 shares of company stock valued at $24,056,862 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Upstart in the third quarter worth $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Upstart by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 125.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.