Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $51.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Upstart traded as low as $24.60 and last traded at $24.67, with a volume of 236340 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.33.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Compass Point upgraded Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market underperform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the business’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 owned 276,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,261,903.68. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 9,481 shares of company stock valued at $282,201 in the last three months. 16.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UPST. Clearstead Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Upstart during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Upstart by 132.2% in the third 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 bought a new stake in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Upstart Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $32.86 and a 200-day moving average of $43.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.44.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.02. Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The business had revenue of $296.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upstart declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 shares are undervalued.

About Upstart

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.