Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Truist Financial

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) was upgraded by stock analysts at Truist Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

UPST has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price target on Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Upstart from $80.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Upstart from $100.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Upstart from $82.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Upstart currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.36.

Upstart Stock Performance

Shares of Upstart stock opened at $50.32 on Tuesday. Upstart has a fifty-two week low of $31.40 and a fifty-two week high of $96.43. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 228.74 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.17 and a 200 day moving average of $58.08.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $258.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.94 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 3.68% and a net margin of 3.33%.The business’s revenue was up 70.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.07) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Upstart will post -0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.58, for a total transaction of $498,365.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 284,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,398,962.40. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 1,500 shares of Upstart stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $75,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 have sold 16,707 shares of company stock worth $633,080. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Upstart by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Upstart by 1.8% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Upstart by 3.0% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Upstart by 29.1% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Upstart by 5.3% in the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.