Castle Hook Partners LP Makes New Investment in Upstart Holdings, Inc. $UPST

Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 48,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,123,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Upstart during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 132.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Upstart Price Performance

NASDAQ:UPST opened at $30.46 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.38. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $23.97 and a one year high of $87.30. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 80.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 2.26.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.46). Upstart had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 4.34%.The business had revenue of $308.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 44.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Upstart declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upstart

In other Upstart news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $28,236.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 37,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,083,472.26. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrea Blankmeyer sold 7,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total transaction of $208,713.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 162,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,811,408.29. The trade was a 4.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 33,346 shares of company stock worth $991,672 over the last quarter. Insiders own 17.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Upstart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a report on Monday. Mizuho set a $45.00 target price on Upstart in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $40.00 price target on shares of Upstart in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Upstart has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.73.

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.