Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Price Target Raised to $51.00

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) had its price objective raised by analysts at Piper Sandler from $46.00 to $51.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price points to a potential upside of 68.21% from the stock’s current price.

UPST has been the topic of several other reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Upstart in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Upstart from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Upstart from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Upstart has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.27.

Upstart Trading Up 3.0%

UPST opened at $30.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.58. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 79.79, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.29. Upstart has a 1-year low of $23.97 and a 1-year high of $85.31.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $364.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.29 million. Upstart had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 5.63%. The company’s revenue was up 41.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Upstart will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Upstart news, CEO Paul Gu bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.50 per share, with a total value of $1,375,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 70,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,000. This trade represents a 250.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 974 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,083,472.26. This represents a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 33,346 shares of company stock valued at $991,672 in the last three months. 17.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Upstart by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 27,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Upstart by 26.7% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 15.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 40.0% in the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 37,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 10,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Upstart by 21.3% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 100,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after buying an additional 17,675 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Upstart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 revenue and originations exceeded expectations. Upstart generated approximately $365 million in revenue, up about 42% year over year and ahead of Wall Street estimates. Management also reported 50% year-over-year growth in loan originations and an all-time high in contribution profit, supporting the view that platform demand and operating leverage are improving. Upstart Q2 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability was a key positive. Zacks reported adjusted earnings of $0.59 per share, above the $0.58 consensus estimate and well above the $0.36 reported a year earlier. However, other earnings data cited $0.16 per share versus a $0.19 estimate, indicating that the result depends on the accounting measure used. Zacks Upstart Q2 Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: Funding and regulatory developments strengthened the growth outlook. Upstart has secured more than $4 billion in newly committed capital through agreements with investors including Fortress, Centerbridge, and Neuberger. Conditional OCC approval to establish Upstart Bank could also reduce operational and regulatory complexity over time. Upstart Funding Momentum Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Full-year revenue guidance was maintained near consensus. Upstart projected FY 2026 revenue of approximately $1.4 billion, broadly matching analyst expectations, so the outlook was supportive but did not represent a major forecast upgrade.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and portfolio risks remain. Management is navigating economic headwinds and strategic shifts in its loan portfolio. Investor sentiment is also tempered by mixed institutional activity and substantial insider selling reported over the past six months, despite purchases by CEO Dave Girouard and co-founder Paul Gu.

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.