Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.50.

UPST has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Upstart from $88.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Stephens cut their price target on Upstart from $55.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Upstart from $59.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th.

Upstart Stock Performance

Upstart stock opened at $27.23 on Friday. Upstart has a fifty-two week low of $26.80 and a fifty-two week high of $87.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.83, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.91.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $296.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.54 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The business’s revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upstart declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total value of $238,342.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 276,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,261,903.68. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $75,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,196,700. The trade was a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,981 shares of company stock worth $357,201. 16.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UPST. Clearstead Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Upstart by 749.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Upstart by 132.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Upstart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Upstart Company Profile

Upstart Holdings, Inc operates a cloud-based lending marketplace that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess borrower creditworthiness. The company partners with banks and credit unions, providing its proprietary AI models and underwriting platform to facilitate consumer credit products. By focusing on non‐traditional data points—such as education, employment history and other real‐time indicators—Upstart seeks to improve approval rates and lower loss rates compared with conventional credit scoring methods.

Upstart’s core offering centers on unsecured personal loans, which borrowers can use for purposes such as debt consolidation, home improvements or major purchases.