Rakuten Securities Inc. Takes Position in Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)

Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upstart in the third quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Upstart during the third quarter worth $939,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Upstart during the third quarter worth $676,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Upstart by 63.8% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 725,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,031,000 after purchasing an additional 282,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Upstart during the fourth quarter worth $2,057,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 794 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total transaction of $62,741.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,737,254.70. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Girouard sold 4,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.01, for a total transaction of $357,441.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,157,032.14. This represents a 7.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,062 shares of company stock valued at $5,247,182 over the last ninety days. 18.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on UPST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Upstart from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Upstart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.38.

Upstart Price Performance

Shares of UPST opened at $46.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of -31.72 and a beta of 2.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.39 and its 200-day moving average is $59.28. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.60 and a fifty-two week high of $96.43.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Upstart had a negative net margin of 20.20% and a negative return on equity of 25.87%. Analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upstart Profile

Upstart Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions.