Insider Selling: Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Insider Sells $314,600.00 in Stock

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) insider Sanjay Datta sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.46, for a total value of $314,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 301,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,485,913.58. The trade was a 3.21% 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. 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 Thursday, August 20th, Sanjay Datta sold 8,945 shares of Upstart stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.09, for a total value of $251,265.05.
• On Monday, August 17th, Sanjay Datta sold 2,033 shares of Upstart stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.36, for a total value of $59,688.88.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, Sanjay Datta sold 15,000 shares of Upstart stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total transaction of $456,150.00.

Upstart Stock Performance

Shares of Upstart stock opened at $30.30 on Monday. Upstart Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.97 and a 52-week high of $76.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.29.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $354.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upstart News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Planned Upstart Bank is the main bullish catalyst. CEO Paul Gu said Upstart expects to launch Upstart Bank early next year as part of the company’s “second leg” of development. Management believes the bank could improve access to funding, increase control over loan origination, and support expansion into secured products such as home and auto lending. Upstart Is Up After Announcing Plans to Launch Upstart Bank
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts see meaningful upside. A recent analysis estimated that UPST could be approximately 28% undervalued if management can make its AI lending platform consistently profitable and successfully broaden into secured credit. The company’s consensus price target of $44.40 also remains above recent trading levels, although the average rating is “Hold.” Upstart Could Be 28% Undervalued
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent insider sales appear primarily tax-related. Sanjay Datta sold 10,000 shares for approximately $314,600 on August 19 and another 8,945 shares for about $251,265 on August 20. Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 586 shares for approximately $16,461, while CFO Andrea Blankmeyer also reported August sales. The filings state that the transactions covered tax withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards, making them a weaker bearish signal; the executives retained significant holdings. SEC Insider Trading Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability and valuation remain risks. Upstart’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.16 missed the $0.18 consensus estimate, despite revenue growing 41.9% year over year to $364.71 million. With a relatively high earnings multiple and recent share-price weakness, investors may remain cautious until the bank strategy produces sustained profits. Why Upstart Stock Slid

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Upstart from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Upstart from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Upstart from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UPST. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Upstart by 154.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,206,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554,591 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Upstart during the fourth quarter valued at $49,915,000. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $37,638,000 after buying an additional 1,052,039 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter worth about $38,580,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Upstart by 267.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,022,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,234,000 after buying an additional 744,190 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.