Zacks Research Downgrades Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) to Strong Sell

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Upstart from $81.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup lowered Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market underperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Upstart from $59.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upstart currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.50.

Upstart Price Performance

UPST stock opened at $31.53 on Tuesday. Upstart has a fifty-two week low of $29.61 and a fifty-two week high of $88.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.07, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 2.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.99.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.91, for a total value of $29,649.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,027,146.18. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 1,500 shares of Upstart 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 sale, the director directly owned 23,934 shares in the company, valued at $1,196,700. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 749.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Upstart by 132.2% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.