Sanjay Datta Sells 2,033 Shares of Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Stock

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) insider Sanjay Datta sold 2,033 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.36, for a total transaction of $59,688.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 311,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,146,315.28. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Sanjay Datta also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 9th, Sanjay Datta sold 15,000 shares of Upstart stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total transaction of $456,150.00.

Upstart Price Performance

Upstart stock opened at $28.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.92 and its 200-day moving average is $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 58.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.29. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.97 and a fifty-two week high of $76.95.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.02). Upstart had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The firm had revenue of $364.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Upstart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,011,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,166,000 after acquiring an additional 531,000 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Upstart by 154.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554,591 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Upstart by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,068,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,469,000 after purchasing an additional 26,734 shares during the period. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Upstart by 253.3% during the 1st quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 1,467,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Upstart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,915,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on UPST. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on Upstart from $66.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Upstart from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Upstart from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Key Headlines Impacting Upstart

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Upstart Bank could create a new growth opportunity. CEO Paul Gu said the company plans to launch Upstart Bank early next year. Management believes the bank could improve access to funding, support expansion into secured products such as home and auto loans, and give Upstart more control over its lending model. Investors may view the initiative as a potential long-term catalyst if it improves profitability. Upstart plans to launch Upstart Bank
• Positive Sentiment: Fintech stocks recently benefited from a broader rebound. Upstart rose alongside SoFi Technologies and Affirm Holdings as lower or more favorable bond-market conditions supported renewed interest in higher-beta lending and fintech companies. Fintech stocks rebound
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent insider selling was mainly for tax obligations. CFO Andrea Blankmeyer sold 10,175 shares in two transactions, while Sanjay Datta sold 2,033 shares. The trades were made under pre-arranged plans or to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards, making them a limited bearish signal; both executives retained substantial positions.
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability and valuation remain pressure points. Upstart’s latest quarterly earnings missed the consensus EPS estimate even though revenue increased 41.9% year over year. With a high earnings multiple and a consensus analyst rating of “Hold,” investors may be reluctant to extend the rally until Upstart Bank and newer home and auto lending businesses demonstrate sustainable contribution profits. SoFi’s stronger profitability and deposit funding also highlight Upstart’s competitive challenges. SoFi versus Upstart analysis

Upstart Company Profile

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.