Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Reaches New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $25.20 and last traded at $25.7590, with a volume of 124847 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on UPST. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Upstart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Upstart from $59.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.77.

Upstart Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 60.52, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.44.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. Upstart had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The firm had revenue of $296.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upstart declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total transaction of $238,342.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 276,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,261,903.68. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,481 shares of company stock worth $282,201. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clearstead Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Upstart in the third quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 749.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Upstart by 132.2% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 72.1% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.