Upstart Holdings, Inc. $UPST is Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) by 253.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,467,360 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,052,039 shares during the quarter. Upstart comprises 8.3% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s holdings in Upstart were worth $37,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 48,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Portman Square Capital LLP raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 29.8% in the first quarter. Portman Square Capital LLP now owns 11,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Upstart by 12.7% during the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG boosted its stake in shares of Upstart by 19.2% during the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 19,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WMG Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Upstart by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 8,265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Upstart Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:UPST opened at $34.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 90.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 2.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.20. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.97 and a 52 week high of $87.30.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.46). Upstart had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 5.63%. The business had revenue of $308.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $301.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 44.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In other news, Director Dave Girouard bought 170,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.37 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,948.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,512,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,025,077.17. This trade represents a 2.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $28,236.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,083,472.26. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,346 shares of company stock worth $991,672. 17.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on UPST shares. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price objective on Upstart in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reissued a “market underperform” rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on Upstart from $66.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.93.

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.